The Philippine Digital Economy in 2026: What the Latest PSA, BSP and DICT Numbers Mean for Businesses

⏱ 10 min read

The Philippine digital economy was worth about ₱2.74 trillion in 2025, or 9.8% of GDP, according to preliminary PSA data reported by GMA News. Digital payments reached 64.7% of retail payment volume in 2025, according to the BSP, and 98.0 million Filipinos are online, according to DataReportal. For businesses, the message is simple: customers already search, pay and transact online, and the gap is now on the business side.

Statistics about the “digital economy” are quoted often and checked rarely. In this article we gather the most recent figures from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and respected private reports, each with the date it was published. Then we explain, as ServicioPro’s own analysis, what these numbers mean for a small or mid-sized Philippine business deciding where to invest in 2026.

The headline numbers at a glance

Here are the key figures with their sources and publication dates. Where a number is preliminary or has been revised, we say so.

What the PSA numbers say

The PSA measures the digital economy as the value added by digital infrastructure, e-commerce, digital media and related services. As reported by GMA News on April 30, 2026, the 2025 preliminary estimate is about ₱2.74 trillion, up 5.4% from a revised ₱2.59 trillion in 2024. That equals 9.8% of GDP.

Two details stand out. First, e-commerce made up 32.2% of the digital economy, which means online selling is one of its largest parts. Second, the PSA counted 10.39 million digital economy jobs, about 21.2% of total employment. That second figure matters for hiring: digital skills are no longer niche in the local labour market.

Payments: digital is now the majority

The BSP’s Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap set a target of 50% of retail payments being digital by 2023, as described in a 2023 BSP speech published by the BIS. That target was met: digital payments reached 52.8% of retail payment volume in 2023, according to the Philippine News Agency. The share then rose to 57.4% by volume (59.0% by value) in 2024, as reported by BitPinas, and to 64.7% by volume in 2025, as reported by Daily Tribune on August 19, 2026, citing the BSP’s report. The current Philippine Development Plan target is 60–70%.

Other signals point the same way:

• QR Ph processed about 2.47 billion transactions worth ₱1.16 trillion in 2025 and overtook cards, according to the BSP report.
• InstaPay handled about 4.7 billion transactions worth ₱11.6 trillion in 2025, and PESONet about 117.2 million transactions worth ₱13.1 trillion, according to Inquirer Plus.
• GCash reported 90 million registered users and about 39 to 40 million monthly active users in 2025, with 78% of users outside Metro Manila, according to parent company Mynt’s June 27, 2026 announcement of its IPO filing.
• Maya Bank reported 5.4 million customers and ₱39.3 billion in deposits at the end of 2024, as reported by Philstar.

The GCash regional figure is worth repeating for businesses outside Metro Manila: digital wallets are not just a capital-region habit. If your shop or service only takes cash, you are asking most customers to use their second-choice payment method. Our guide to accepting GCash and Maya on your website or app explains the setup options.

People online: users, social media and mobile

DataReportal’s Digital 2026 Philippines report, published November 5, 2025, counts 98.0 million internet users (83.8% of the population), 95.8 million social media user identities and 137 million mobile connections, or 117% of the population, since many people carry more than one SIM. The Digital 2025 report had 97.5 million internet users, 90.8 million social media identities and 142 million mobile connections.

The practical reading: almost everyone you want to reach is online, mostly through a phone. Websites and apps must be fast and usable on mid-range Android devices and mobile data. Our article on website speed on Philippine mobile data covers the technical side.

Regional AI adoption is also high. The e-Conomy SEA 2025 report by Google, Temasek and Bain, as covered by NewsBytes.PH on November 26, 2025, found that 78% of Philippine digital users use AI tools. The same report estimated the country’s digital economy gross merchandise value at about US$36 billion in 2025, up 16%, with e-commerce over 60% of it, digital payments gross transaction value of US$150 billion (+20%), and transport and food delivery growing about 20%. Note that e-Conomy SEA measures gross sales, while the PSA measures value added, so the two cannot be compared directly.

Policy: connectivity, e-commerce rules and eGovPH

Connectivity

• Konektadong Pinoy Act (RA 12234) lapsed into law on August 24, 2025 and took effect on September 14, 2025. Its implementing rules were signed on November 5, 2025, as reported by NewsBytes.PH. It opens data transmission to new players without a legislative franchise.
• National Fiber Backbone Phase 1 launched on April 19, 2024, covering 1,245 km from Laoag to Quezon City with 600 Gbps capacity, according to the President’s speech at the launch.
• Free WiFi reached 18,849 sites as of May 2025, with a target of 21,000 in 2025 and 50,000 by 2028, as reported by Philstar on June 13, 2025.

E-commerce rules

The Internet Transactions Act (RA 11967), signed on December 5, 2023, is in force, with implementing rules signed on May 22, 2024. It created the DTI E-Commerce Bureau and an online business database, and sets out the liability of online merchants and e-marketplaces. Our sibling article on building an e-commerce website that complies with the Internet Transactions Act explains what that means for your store.

eGovPH

The DICT’s eGovPH app reached 56 million downloads and more than 800 million transactions, according to Philstar on June 23, 2026. Earlier, on March 24, 2026, GMA News reported the DICT’s target of 60 million users by 2028. Customers who renew documents in an app expect the same convenience from private businesses.

Small business support

The DTI onboarded 300,321 MSMEs to e-commerce between January 2023 and March 2024, as reported by Philstar on July 15, 2024. In March 2026, Daily Tribune reported on DTI programs such as E-TAAS ang Pinay MSMEs and access to Google Career Certificates. These programs suggest that more of your competitors are moving online with government help.

What it means for businesses: ServicioPro’s analysis

The figures above are official or published data. What follows is our interpretation for Philippine SMEs, not an official position.

In practice, we suggest this order for most SMEs:

1. Get found. A fast, mobile-friendly website and a complete Google Business Profile. See our local SEO and Google Maps guide.
2. Get paid digitally. QR Ph, GCash, Maya and cards, online and at the counter.
3. Own a channel. Keep marketplaces if they work, but build your own store or booking page so you own the customer relationship. Compare options in e-commerce website vs Lazada and Shopee.
4. Automate the repetitive parts. Bookings, inventory updates and order notifications are the usual first wins.
5. Protect data. More digital transactions means more personal data and more obligations under the Data Privacy Act.

The customers are already online and already paying digitally. The open question in 2026 is whether your business is there to meet them.

Cautions when reading these numbers

• Preliminary data changes. The PSA’s 2025 figure is preliminary and may be revised, as the 2024 figure was.
• Different measures. PSA value added, e-Conomy SEA gross merchandise value and BSP transaction counts measure different things.
• Connections are not people. 137 million mobile connections does not mean 137 million users.
• Registered is not active. GCash’s 90 million registered users compares with about 39 to 40 million monthly active users.
• Averages hide gaps. 83.8% online also means many people are not, so offline options still matter.