The economies of Sorsogon and Camarines Sur shrank in 2025, pulling the whole Bicol Region down to just 0.5 percent growth, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), as reported by Bicol Mail.
The figures were presented at a PSA forum in Sorsogon City on Tuesday, October 6. PSA-Sorsogon provincial head Cross Doreh Lee said the weak results in the two provinces wiped out the gains of Bicol’s four other provinces.
The Numbers by Province
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) measures the total value of goods and services an economy produces. According to PSA data, here is how each Bicol province’s economy changed in 2025:
- Masbate: +3.9% (highest)
- Camarines Norte: +1.8%
- Albay: +1.1%
- Catanduanes: +0.3%
- Camarines Sur: -1.0%
- Sorsogon: -1.2%
What Went Wrong in Sorsogon
Of the three main parts of Sorsogon’s economy, both agriculture and industry declined last year, the PSA said.
PSA officials described agriculture as a long-time weak performer in the province. Industry shrank heavily because of a big drop in construction. That same sector had made Sorsogon Bicol’s fastest-growing economy, with a peak growth of 12.2 percent in 2022.
Services was the only bright spot. Its share of Sorsogon’s economy rose to 42.73 percent from 39.82 percent in 2024, according to the data.
The 2025 contraction is Sorsogon’s biggest since 2020, when its economy shrank by 7.6 percent at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The province grew steadily after the pandemic, peaked in 2022, and has declined every year from 2023 to 2025.
A Closer Look at the Region
Masbate was the only province with growth in both industry (0.2 percent) and agriculture (11 percent), the PSA said. All six provinces grew in services, which kept the economies of Sorsogon, Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte, and Albay afloat. Catanduanes is the only province with an industry-based economy.
On per capita GDP, or output per person, only Catanduanes and Albay were above the regional average of P101,700, according to the PSA.
The Other Side: Fewer Poor Sorsogueños
Despite the economic slump, Sorsogon recorded the biggest drop in poverty in the region.
According to the PSA, poverty among Sorsogon’s population fell to 21.8 percent in 2025 from 37.9 percent in 2023. That is a drop of 16.1 percentage points, or about 142,700 people lifted out of poverty.
Poverty among families also fell, to 15.1 percent in 2025 from 28.4 percent in 2023. That is 13.3 percentage points, or about 21,400 families, the PSA said.
Why It Matters
The data shows how much Sorsogon’s recent growth leaned on construction, and how quickly it faded once that sector slowed. At the same time, the poverty figures suggest the picture on the ground is more mixed than the GDP numbers alone show.
