The Philippines posted the highest growth in the tourism sector last year on the back of higher foreign tourism expenditure and domestic tourism expenditure, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Tuesday.

PSA, citing the Philippine Tourism Satellite Account, said the share of tourism direct gross value added (TDGVA) to the economy, as measured by the gross domestic product (GDP), reached 8.6 percent in 2023.

The Tourism Satellite Account is made every year and includes services like lodging, food and drink service, transportation, travel companies and other reservation services, fun and entertainment, shopping, and other services.

PSA said the country's TDGVA amounted to P2.09 trillion in 2023, higher by 47.9 percent compared with the P1.41 trillion TDGVA in 2022.

"This is the highest growth of tourism since the start of the data compilation in the year 2000," the PSA said.

When it comes to different types of tourism spending, inbound tourism spending grew the most, by 87.7 percent, to P697.46 billion last year. This was followed by domestic tourism spending, which grew by 72.3 percent, from P1.55 trillion to P2.67 trillion.

At the same time, spending on outbound tourists went up by 10 percent, from P189.29 billion to P208.25 billion.

Employment in tourism characteristic industries was estimated at 6.21 million in 2023, higher by 6.4 percent compared with the 5.84 million employment in tourism characteristic industries in 2022.

The share of employment in tourism industries to the total employment in the country in 2023 was recorded at 12.9 percent.