RP suffers in ASEAN 2026 comparative rankings

As our country prepares for the coming Summit, we need to take a quick look at the global competitive index of the 11 ASEAN member-nations. How do we rate as against the global indices as well as among ourselves?

The Philippines holds the chairmanship this year even as we closely monitor the member nations' comparative performance across variable major development and governance indices. On the most important good governance index, our country ranks sixth out of eight Southeast Asian countries which were evaluated, as we ranked 59th out of 133 governments. We were ahead only of Cambodia and Laos, We were outranked by Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam.

On the criteria of economic competitiveness, based on the IMD Competitiveness Yearbook, the Philippines ranked the lowest among all ASEAN economies. We were beaten by Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos PDR, and even Timor-Leste. Bad governance and weak institutions are the main drivers for our very bad performance in economic competitiveness. Luckily, however, in the first quarter of 2025, we got the second place in economic growth with a growth rate of 5.4% following Vietnam's amazing 7.0%.

Embarrassingly, the Philippines was listed by the Atlas of Impunity as the sixth worst economy among all the 11 ASEAN member-nations. We ranked number 65 out of 174 countries globally trailing poorly our better neighbors Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia. The problems are corruption, weak government institutions, poor governance, mediocre leadership and unpredictable and inconsistent government policies. Our strengths include a robust human capital, resilience and flexibility of our manpower.

The good news is that in 2026, we climbed four spots in our overall global competitiveness ranking, although the weakness in our government efficiency and our backward infrastructures keep us lacking in competitiveness among our fellow ASEAN member economies. We lag behind according to the IMD World Competitiveness Center. We need to shape up or else even Laos PDR, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Timor-Leste may leave us behind.

In 2026, the IMD World Competitiveness Ranking, the Philippines ranked 47 out of 70 economies with a poor score of 59.07 out of the highest possible score of 100. We just moved four levels higher, from number 61 out of 69 in 2025 with our last year score of 54.88. Our highest ranking was only as number 45 in 2020 with a better national leadership and minimal corruption. It is becoming increasingly clear that our problem is the government and the political leadership.

It is quite unsettling that we chair ASEAN this year while our economy is faring very badly compared to the rest of the region. What is happening to the Philippines? Are we becoming the sick old man in Asia again?