GRIP

Economy

A services economy spread across an archipelago

The property question in the Philippines is which payroll, in which city, is actually paying the rent.

Ayala Avenue in Makati, with office towers along the established business district

EconomyPhilippines

Economy note. Payrolls, sectors and the currency of wages. Not the city-by-city property file.

The longer country file is the Philippines market hub.

Demand for space follows urban payrolls, not a national growth rate. Services exports — work done in a Philippine city for a client abroad — are one payroll. Overseas Filipino earnings are another. They support households at home. They are not a foreign buyer.

Tourism fills particular coasts and seasons. It does not describe weekday demand in an office district. Remittances and a young population are structural. They do not set a price. Dated figures belong in a Philippine Statistics Authority release.