Metro Manila, Philippines – The Philippines has achieved upper-middle income status this year, the World Bank (WB) said on Wednesday, July 1.
The global development lender said the country’s gross national income (GNI) per capita of $4,850 exceeded the $4,636 threshold to break through to the upper-middle income category.
The WB Development Data Group updates country classifications annually on July 1. GNI is a metric used by the bank to classify economies into income brackets based on a country’s final income divided by its midyear population.
“The Philippines achieved its reclassification through broad-based expansion. GDP [gross domestic product] grew at an average of 5.8% per year over five years, reflecting gains across all major industries, not a single sector boom, but an economy-wide shift,” the bank said in its latest blog.
The group said these updates reflect which countries can get access to concessional loans and development assistance, and provide a marker to track economic progress.
The Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev) welcomed the upgrade.
“The new classification is expected to strengthen the country’s credit profile, boost investor confidence, and expand access to financing and higher-quality investments that generate better jobs for Filipinos,” the DEPDev said.
Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the upgrade did not diminish income disparity and economic difficulty.
Meanwhile, the WB also reclassified Jordan, Micronesia, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam in the same category.
