PH trails Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia in wealth - World Bank

Manila, Philippines - Wealth and living standards in the Philippines fell short of a global threshold that would have matched Southeast Asian peers Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.

The country’s gross national income (GNI) per capita – which tracks a nation’s wealth from year to year by computing the total amount of money earned by its citizens and business divided by its population – is $4,470 (roughly P251,880), according to the latest country income classification by the World Bank.

By World Bank standards, that’s just $26 short of the required $4,496 GNI per capita for the Philippines to reach upper-middle income status where Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia belong. Economies classified as upper-middle income make as much as $13,935 (roughly P785,280) per citizen.

The latest assessment puts the Philippines in the league of lower-middle income Southeast Asian peers Vietnam ($4,490), Cambodia ($2,520), Laos ($2,000), and Myanmar ($1,220).

The Marcos administration wants to reach upper-middle income status by 2026.

The World Bank classifies economies each year into four income groups: low, lower-middle, upper-middle, and high. These are updated every year on July 1.

NewsWatch Plus Business News anchor Lois Calderon contributed to this story.