The Philippines’ bid to become an upper-middle-income country (UMIC) fell a few dollars short this year, even after its gross national income (GNI) per capita increased from 2023 to 2024, data from the World Bank showed.
The country remained a lower-middle-income economy under the World Bank’s latest classification for fiscal year 2026, as its GNI per capita in 2024 stood at $4,470, up from GNI per capita of $4,320 in 2023.
The World Bank classifies as lower middle-income economy those countries with a GNI per capita of $1,136 to $4,495 last year, adjusted from $1,146 to $4,515.
To be a UMIC for the current fiscal year, a country’s GNI should stand at $4,496 to $13,935, lowered from the GNI per capita threshold of $4,516 to $14,005 in the previous fiscal year.
Despite the lowered GNI per capita requirement, the Philippines still failed to move up to the UMIC bracket, just $26 short of the minimum.
GNI per capita measures the country’s total income divided by its population.
The World Bank earlier said the country’s elevation to UMIC status might take longer, possibly by 2027.
In his very first State of the Nation Address (SONA) last July 2022, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. revealed his administration’s goal for the Philippines to hit a GNI per capita of $4,256 to attain UMIC status by 2024.
The timeline to hit the UMIC status target has been repeatedly adjusted, with Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan expressing confidence that the country would move up to the UMIC bracket by 2026, as he was optimistic that the economy would expand by 6% for the entire year 2025.
At a Palace press briefing, Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro said the government will double efforts to achieve the UMIC goal.
The Philippines joins some of its neighbors in the region in the lower middle-income bracket, such as Cambodia, India, Myanmar, Vietnam, Timor-Leste, and Papua New Guinea. –NB, GMA Integrated News