The government aims to create an additional 8 million jobs in the digital sector by 2028, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said Monday.
The DICT said the goal is to make digital economy opportunities accessible to all Filipinos, in response to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s directive to foster a “Digital-First Economy.”
“The DICT will explore every corner of the Philippines and make them feel that there is a government ready to help them,” DICT Undersecretary Christina Faye Condez-de Sagon said in a statement.
The DICT projects 19.3 million Filipinos will be employed in the digital economy by 2028, a substantial increase from 11.3 million this year.
Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed the digital economy contributed P2.05 trillion to the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023, an 8.4-percent share. This was a 7.7-percent increase from P1.90 trillion in 2022.
The digital economy encompasses digital-enabling infrastructure, e-commerce, digital media/content, and government digital services. Government digital services is a newly added component.
Digital-enabling infrastructure comprised the largest portion of the digital economy in 2023, amounting to P1.70 trillion. Within this component, telecommunication services held the biggest share at 32.9 percent, followed by professional and business services at 30.1 percent, and computer, electronic and optical products at 17.1 percent.
E-commerce had a 14 percent share of the digital economy, digital media/content 2.9 percent and government digital services 0.2 percent.
About 9.68 million people were employed in the digital economy in 2023. E-commerce accounted for the highest share of employment at 87.3 percent, followed by digital-enabling infrastructure (11.5 percent), digital media/content (1.1 percent), and government digital services (0.1 percent).
