The Philippines is a newly industrialized country, with an economy anchored on agriculture but with substantial contributions from manufacturing, mining, remittances from overseas Filipinos, and service industries such as tourism, and business process outsourcing. It is also listed in the roster of the "Next Eleven" economies.

The economy was largely anchored on the Manila-Acapulco galleon during the Spanish period, and bilateral trade with the United States during the American period. Pro-Filipino economic policies were first implemented during the tenure of Carlos P. Garcia with the "Filipino First" policy.

By the 1960s, the economy was regarded as the second largest in Asia, next to Japan. However, the leadership of Ferdinand Marcos would prove disastrous, by transforming the market economy into a centrally planned economy. The country suffered severe economic recession, only to recover in the 1990s with a program of economic liberalization. Today, there is a mixed economy.

The Asian Financial Crisis affected the economy to an extent, resulting in a lingering decline of the value of the peso, and falls in the stock market, although the extent to which it was affected was not as severe as that of its Asian neighbors.

This is largely due to the fiscal conservatism of the government partly as a result of decades of monitoring, and fiscal supervision from the International Monetary Fund, in comparison to the massive spending of its neighbors on the rapid acceleration of economic growth. By 2004, the economy experienced six percent growth in gross domestic product, and 7.3% in 2007. The government aims to accelerate economy, and GDP growth by 2009.

In a bid to further strengthen the economy, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo pledged to turn the country into a developed country by 2020. As part of this goal, she instituted five economic "super regions" to concentrate on the economic strengths of various regions, as well as the implementation of tax reforms, continued privatization of state assets, and the building-up of infrastructure in various areas of the nation.

The Philippine economy is heavily reliant on remittances as a source of foreign currency, surpassing foreign direct investment.

Regional development is also somewhat uneven, with Luzon, and Metro Manila in particular gaining most of the new economic growth at the expense of the other regions, although the government has taken steps to distribute economic growth by promoting investment in other areas of the country.