Philippines GDP shrank 16.5% in Q2, enters technical recession

MANILA, Philippines, Aug 6 (Philippine Inquirer/ANN) –The Philippine economy contracted by a record 16.5 percent during the second quarter — at the height of the longest and most stringent COVID-19 lockdown in the region that had put a halt to 75 percent of economic activities and shed millions of jobs.

The Philippines fell into a technical recession afer two straight quarters of gross domestic product contraction during the first half, as GDP shrank by 0.7 percent year-on-year during the first quarter no thanks to the eruption of Taal Volcano and the tourism revenue losses at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.