MANILA, June 18 (Xinhua) -- The tourism sector contributed 8cardroulette.6 percent of the Philippines' gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Tuesday.

The country's Tourism Direct Gross Value Added in 2023 is about 47.9 percent higher than that in 2022, PSA head Dennis Mapa said, adding that this is the highest tourism growth since the data compilation in 2000.

The tourism industry's contribution to the GDP in 2022 was 6.2 percent.

Mapa said the tourism sector in 2023 saw a significant increase in employment, with an estimated 6.21 million jobs, a 6.4-percent increase from the 5.84 million in 2022. The share of employment in tourism industries in total employment in the country in 2023 was 12.9 percent.

The tourism industry was a key economic driver in the Southeast Asian country, contributing 12.7 percent to the GDP in 2019.

However, the COVID-19 pandemic severely affected the tourism sector, slashing foreign arrivals and displacing almost 1.1 million service workers nationwide.

At the height of the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, the PSA showed the tourism sector contributed 5.1 percent and 5.2 percent, respectively, to the GDP.■