The Philippines is a lower-middle income economy according to the World Bank. Its 2024 GDP of $462 billion accounts for 11.6% of the regional GDP of Southeast Asia. With a population of 116 million, the Philippines’ GDP per capita is $3,985, the seventh-highest in the region.
From 2015 to 2024, 20,210 aid and development projects were implemented in the Philippines by 84 development partners, totalling $56.5 billion in official development finance (ODF).
Key trends
ODF disbursements to the Philippines grew significantly from 2015 to a peak of $11 billion in 2020, after which ODF declined and then stabilised at a post-pandemic average of $6.9 billion a year. Though ODF to the Philippines decreased by 3% in 2024, the post-pandemic average remains well above the pre-pandemic average of $3.6 billion.
ODF relative to the Philippines’ economy has decreased from its 2020 peak (3% of GDP) to roughly 1.5% of GDP since 2022. The Philippines’ 2024 ODF to GDP ratio is the fifth-highest in the region. Of total ODF to the Philippines, 66% is disbursed through non-concessional loans, with the remainder split between concessional loans (20%) and grants (14%).
New commitments to the Philippines decreased by 37% in 2024. This contributes to a pattern of significant swings in ODF commitments to the Philippines, with peaks in 2016, 2020, and 2023 all followed by dramatic drops.
- Spent
- Committed
Development partners
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is the Philippines’ primary development partner, accounting for about a third of its ODF since 2015. The World Bank is the second-largest partner, accounting for 26%, while Japan accounts for 18%.
Pandemic-response spending pushed the ADB’s ODF to 48.3% of the Philippines’ total in 2020. It has since averaged 30%, disbursed almost entirely through non-concessional loans. The ADB remained the largest development partner in 2024, despite cutting spending. Its main focus is the government and civil society sector, with secondary-level support to the banking and financial services and transport and storage sectors. Its support for government and civil society increased sharply from 15% of its ODF to the Philippines in 2023 to 50% in 2024.
The World Bank doubled its annual spending in the Philippines in 2020 and has maintained a strong level of support through 2024. From 2015 to 2024, the World Bank contributed 26% of total ODF to the Philippines, primarily in the government and civil society sector through exclusively non-concessional loans.
Japan’s ODF to the Philippines has risen from a pre-pandemic average of $683 million per year to a post-pandemic average of $1.3 billion per year. It is disbursed through a combination of concessional loans (87%) and grants (13%), and focuses heavily on the transport and storage sector.
Sectors
The top sector in the Philippines is government and civil societyaccounting for 28% of total ODF from 2015 to 2024, well above the regional average of 17%. It grew further to 32% in 2024. The Philippines also exceeds the regional average for ODF across agriculture, forestry, and fishing, banking and financial services, communications, education, humanitarian aid, and health.
Government and civil society sector spending is directed towards social protection, public sector policy, and public finance management.
However, ODF spending on energy in the Philippines, comprising less than 2%, lies far below the regional average of 17%.
- The Philippines
- Regional average
Policy goals
The Southeast Asia Aid Map tracks ODF with integrated policy goals across three policy domains or cross-cutting themes (as distinct from sectors): climate action, gender equality, and disability inclusion.
From 2015 to 2024, 41% of the Philippines’ ODF was directed to climate action, 43% to gender equality, and 17% to disability inclusion, all above the regional average.
Provision of intra-regional ODF
The Philippines is a very minor provider of intra-regional ODF, ranking as the seventh-largest provider and averaging $140,268 per year from 2015 to 2024. Most of the Philippines’ intra-regional ODF has gone to regional initiatives, primarily the humanitarian aid sector, alongside one bilateral transaction to Indonesia in 2018. It receives a small amount of intra-regional ODF, mostly from Thailand.