Creative industry expands to P2.12 trillion in 2025, but growth momentum slows

By Heather Caitlin P. Mañago

THE VALUE of the Philippines’ creative economy rose to P2.12 trillion in 2025, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Thursday.

The PSA said the gross value added (GVA) of the creative industry expanded 6.9% to P2.12 trillion in 2025.

However, the growth rate slowed from the 10.9% posted in 2024, as well as the 12.4% reported in 2023.

The creative economy thus accounted for 7.6% of  gross domestic product (GDP) at current prices in 2025, against the 7.5% posted in 2024.

The creative economy is composed of industries like film, digital services, research and development, media publishing, music, arts, entertainment, advertising, art galleries, museums and trade shows.

According to the PSA, symbols and images and other related activities had the largest share at 31.6% or P670.15 billion of the industry’s GVA in 2025. These include manufacturing and trading of symbols and images in textiles, fashion, toys, footwear, furniture and other accessories.

Digital interactive goods and service activities accounted for a 19.7% share or P416.33 billion, while advertising, research and development, and other artistic service activities posted a share of 15.9% or P337.64 billion.

Meanwhile, traditional cultural expression activities made up 14.3% or P303.15 billion of the industry’s total GVA.

In 2025, the creative industries employed 8.71 million people, down 0.4%.

“The share of employment in creative industries to the total employment in the country was registered at 17.8% in 2025,” the PSA said.

Of the total jobs in the creative sector, 33% in the traditional cultural expression activities, equivalent to 2.88 million jobs.

Symbols and images and other related activities employed 2.36 million, representing 27.1% of the industry’s jobs, while advertising, research and development, and other artistic service activities employed 2.07 million, representing 23.7%.

“The increase in GVA of the creative industry in 2025 can be attributed to committed government support through the Philippine Creative Industries Act,” Cid L. Terosa, senior economist at the University of Asia and the Pacific, said in an e-mail.

He added that dynamic demand for high-value subsectors like advertising, gaming, and digital marketing also pushed the GVA higher.

Ser Percival K. Peña-Reyes, director of the Ateneo Center for Economic Research and Development, noted that the industry is transitioning into a more sustainable phase.

“The rise in the Philippine creative sector’s GVA… reflects continued expansion, but the slower growth rate suggests moderating momentum,” Mr. Peña-Reyes said via Viber.

He said that while the sector “held its ground better than much of the rest of the economy,” it faced cyclical constraints such as a “base effect,” where sustaining double-digit growth becomes harder as the industry matures.

However, analysts pointed to several factors that dampened the sector’s performance.

Mr. Terosa noted that Philippine growth slowed in 2025, with higher inflation pulling demand away from “non-basic or discretionary spending for creative services.”

He also cited the “lack of human capital for creative jobs” as a barrier to actualizing growth potential.

In 2025, the economy expanded by 4.4%, much weaker than the 5.7% growth posted in 2024. This was the weakest reading in five years. GDP had contracted 9.5% in 2020.

Average inflation for 2025 settled at 1.7%, easing from 3.2% in 2024. This was the lowest reading since the 1.3% recorded in 2016.

Meanwhile, Mr. Peña-Reyes highlighted emerging disruptions, noting that “AI and technology shifts… introduce competition through the automation of creative tasks and raise concerns about job displacement and copyright.”

Mr. Terosa said government plans to position creative industry at the center of its trade, tourism, and investment programs, with the aim of showcasing these efforts during the Philippines’ 2026 ASEAN chairmanship.

“Growing digital technology and AI adoption bode well for the growth prospects of the industry in 2026,” he added.

However, Mr. Terosa warned that a prolonged conflict among the US, Israel, and Iran could weigh heavily on the industry in 2026 due to “war-related inflation, supply disruptions, and spending slowdown.”

Mr. Peña-Reyes noted that if structural gaps — such as limited access to financing and the need for stronger intellectual property protection — are addressed, the creative economy could accelerate again beyond 2026 and account for a larger portion of GDP.