AI in the Philippines: sourced figures on adoption, jobs and policy

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Headline findings

Internet users, end of 2025

98.0 million

Establishments with internet access

81% (PIDS, citing PSA)

AI adoption rate, all establishments, 2021 survey

3.02%

Highest sector rates, 2021 survey

BPO 7.19%, ICT 5.94%

Employment exposed to generative AI (ILO)

More than one quarter, 12.7 million jobs

IT-BPM export revenue, 2025

US$40.3 billion

This page collects published figures about AI in the Philippines and shows the source, the period and the date each one was checked. It does not estimate, round or combine figures. Where sources disagree or a figure could not be found, the page says so. All figures were checked on 12 Oct 2026. The full list can be downloaded as a CSV file at the end of the page.

Connectivity

Reach is not the main obstacle. DataReportal’s Digital 2026: The Philippines, published 5 November 2025, reports the following, using data available up to October 2025.

Swipe the table sideways to see all columns.

DataReportal notes that published internet-user figures can take months to appear and may understate current numbers. The population figure used in its calculations is 117 million (United Nations data), and 49.1 percent of the population lived in urban centres.

Business adoption

Most Philippine establishments have basic digital tools. The Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) reports, citing Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data, that 90.8 percent of establishments own computers and 81 percent have internet access (PIDS press release, 11 September 2025). The PIDS release does not state the year of the PSA data.

AI use is much lower. PIDS Discussion Paper 2024-35 (December 2024) analyses the 2021 PIDS Survey of Innovation Activities of Establishments. It defines the adoption rate as the number of AI adopters in a category divided by the number of firms in that category.

AI adoption rate by group, 2021 survey (percent of firms)

All establishments

3.02%

Micro enterprises

2.79%

Small enterprises

3.59%

Medium enterprises

2.91%

Large enterprises

5.29%

BPO

7.19%

ICT

5.94%

Agriculture

1.55%

AI adoption rate by group, 2021 survey (percent of firms)

Item	Value (%)
All establishments	3.02
Micro enterprises	2.79
Small enterprises	3.59
Medium enterprises	2.91
Large enterprises	5.29
BPO	7.19
ICT	5.94
Agriculture	1.55

Source: PIDS Discussion Paper 2024-35, December 2024.

Swipe the table sideways to see all columns.

Two adoption figures, not reconciled. The same paper also states that 14.9 percent of firms use AI and machine learning technologies, placing AI fourth among the Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies behind the Internet of Things, 5G and automation. The 2025 PIDS press release leads with the 14.9 percent figure and later quotes the 3 percent overall rate. Neither document explains the difference in definition or source. This page shows both, attributes each to the paper, and does not pick one. The paper is a preliminary discussion paper: its own cover note says it is unedited and unreviewed.

What the paper says holds adoption back. The authors list weak digital infrastructure, limited awareness of emerging technologies (about one in five firms is aware of Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies), skills gaps and scarce funding. Adoption is concentrated in Metro Manila and CALABARZON.

The IT-BPM industry

The IT and business process management sector is the part of the Philippine economy closest to AI-assisted work. The IT & Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) publishes its figures in its annual industry overview.

Philippine IT-BPM export revenue, US$ billion

Philippine IT-BPM export revenue, US$ billion

Item	Value
2016	22.9
2017	23.4
2018	24.8
2019	26.3
2020	26.5
2021	29.5
2022	32.5
2023	35.5
2024	38.0
2025	40.3
2026 (forecast)	42.3

Source: IBPAP, The Philippine IT-BPM Industry Overview 2026, read 2026-10-12.

Philippine IT-BPM headcount, millions

Philippine IT-BPM headcount, millions

Item	Value
2016	1.15
2017	1.17
2018	1.23
2019	1.30
2020	1.32
2021	1.45
2022	1.57
2023	1.70
2024	1.82
2025	1.89
2026 (forecast)	1.94

Source: IBPAP, The Philippine IT-BPM Industry Overview 2026, read 2026-10-12.

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IBPAP states that the Philippines holds 17 percent of global IT-BPM services headcount in 2025, up from 15 percent in 2022, and describes a “new AI-enabled delivery layer built on existing strengths” with “higher-value, AI-augmented delivery”. Those phrases are IBPAP’s own description of its direction. The overview does not publish a measure of how much AI is used inside member companies.

Workforce exposure to AI

Two international institutions have estimated how many Philippine jobs involve tasks that AI could affect. Exposure measures task overlap. It is different from a forecast of jobs lost, and each paper says how it uses the term.

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The IMF working paper by Micholo Cucio and Tristan Hennig (21 February 2025) also finds that college-educated, young, urban, female and well-paid workers in the services sector are the groups most exposed, and identifies business process outsourcing as the sector with the highest proportion of jobs at risk of displacement. The ILO brief by Phu Huynh (5 February 2026) reports that the exposure rate is the highest among the ASEAN countries with recent and comparable data.

Policy and readiness

• National AI Strategy Roadmap 2.0. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) launched the roadmap in July 2024. It is organised around four dimensions: research and development, digitisation and infrastructure, workforce development, and AI governance and ethics (OECD.AI policy navigator).
• Government AI Readiness Index. Oxford Insights’ 2025 edition assesses 195 governments and notes that the Philippines rose seven places in the index (Oxford Insights). The rank and score are in the full report and are not reproduced here because they were not read from the report itself.
• Data protection. The National Privacy Commission issued NPC Advisory No. 2024-04 on 19 December 2024, on the application of the Data Privacy Act of 2012 to AI systems that process personal data.

What is not published

Gaps are part of the record, so they are listed here. Each was true of the sources reviewed on 12 Oct 2026.

• A current official national rate of AI use by firms after the 2021 survey year was not found.
• The PIDS documents do not explain the gap between the 14.9 percent and 3.02 percent figures.
• The PIDS paper does not state how many firms were in the 2021 survey, so no sample size is given here.
• The IBPAP overview does not publish how much AI is used inside the industry.
• The Oxford Insights rank and score were not read from the full report.
• No Philippine-specific figure for business spending on AI tools was found from a primary source.

Method

Figures come from the publisher’s own page or document, listed in the sources below. Each figure is shown as printed, with its period. Where an organisation gives a range or a descriptive phrase, such as “around one third”, that wording is kept. Private surveys sponsored by vendors are not used because their sample and definitions vary and many do not publish their method. Corrections are handled under the editorial policy.

Frequently asked questions

How many Philippine businesses use AI?

The most recent firm-level survey figure found is 3.02 percent of establishments in the 2021 PIDS Survey of Innovation Activities. The same PIDS paper also states 14.9 percent of firms using AI and machine learning technologies, and does not reconcile the two. A current official figure was not found.

How many Filipinos use the internet?

DataReportal reports 98.0 million internet users in the Philippines at the end of 2025, which is 83.8 percent of the population.

How big is the Philippine IT-BPM industry?

IBPAP reports 2025 export revenue of US$40.3 billion and 1.89 million full-time equivalent staff, with a 2026 forecast of US$42.3 billion.

How many Philippine jobs are exposed to AI?

The ILO reports that more than one quarter of employment, 12.7 million jobs, is exposed to generative AI. The IMF reports that around one third of workers are highly exposed. Exposure is not a count of jobs lost.

How do I cite this page?

Use the citation line in the box below, which includes the last-reviewed date, and cite the original source for any figure you quote.

Sources

All sources were read on 12 Oct 2026.

1. DataReportal, Digital 2026: The Philippines, 5 November 2025.
2. Philippine Institute for Development Studies, Discussion Paper Series No. 2024-35, December 2024.
3. Philippine Institute for Development Studies, PH businesses lag in AI adoption despite digital access, press release, 11 September 2025.
4. IT & Business Process Association of the Philippines, The Philippine IT-BPM Industry Overview 2026.
5. International Monetary Fund, Artificial Intelligence and the Philippine Labor Market, 21 February 2025.
6. International Labour Organization, Generative AI and jobs in the Philippines, 5 February 2026.
7. OECD.AI, National AI Strategy Roadmap 2.0 (NAISR 2.0).
8. Oxford Insights, Government AI Readiness Index 2025.
9. National Privacy Commission, NPC Advisory No. 2024-04, 19 December 2024.

Download the figures on this page as CSV

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