ZAMBOANGA City remained the biggest and fastest growing economy in the entire Zamboanga Peninsula, the City Development Council (CDC) said.

This, as the local economy consistently grew by leaps and bounds from the pre-pandemic level of P125.05 billion to a record high of P139.47 billion in 2022, according to the data presented by the City Planning and Development Coordinator's Office (CPDCO) during the CDC meeting on Tuesday, December 19.

Mayor John Dalipe convened the CDC to assess the accomplishments for the year with second district Congressman Jose Manuel Daipe as special guest, whose presence gave a remarkable boost to the city's aspirations and vision for inclusive progress and development under the leadership of his younger brother.

The young mayor said the CPDCO reported the city's economic growth was primarily driven by the services sector (55 percent) followed by the industrial sector (35.1 percent) and the agri-forestry and fishery sector (9.6 percent).

These three major industries or sectors also registered staggering growth rates of 11.9 percent, 4.4 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively, over the last five years, according to Dalipe, who chairs the CDC.

He said the figures were also reflective of the city's Gross Domestic Product’s (GDP) growth rates from P125.05 billion in 2018 to P130.82 billion (4.6 percent up) in 2019 but plummeted to P122.69 billion (-6.2 percent) in 2020 due to the pandemic.

However, he said that as the City gradually reopened its economy after the pandemic, the GDP grew by 5.1 percent in the amount of P128.97 billion in 2021, and leapfrogged to 8.1 percent in 2022, bringing the city's economic value to P139.47 billion. (SunStar Zamboanga)