The Philippines ranked among the world’s fastest-growing economies for intangible investments, with spending on assets such as research and development (R&D), software, brands, and intellectual property reaching $49.1 billion in 2022, according to a new report from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
In the third edition of its “World Intangible Investment Highlights”, released this month in collaboration with Luiss Business School, WIPO said the Philippines posted a 3.9% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in real intangible investments from 2012 to 2022, higher than the 3.5% global average.
The report also showed that Philippine intangible investments rebounded by 4.6% from 2021 to 2022 after a pandemic-related slowdown, making it the third-fastest growing economy among the 29 economies surveyed, behind India and Japan.
Intangible assets include organizational knowledge, R&D, software and data, brands, design, and other forms of intellectual property. WIPO said these assets remain undermeasured despite accounting for a growing share of economic activity worldwide.
Globally, the report said investment in intangible assets has been growing nearly three times faster than tangible investments, with the 29 economies covered — representing 57% of global GDP — posting more than $10 trillion in aggregate intangible investment in 2025.
For the Philippines, R&D recorded the fastest growth among intangible asset categories, expanding at a 20.1% CAGR from 2012 to 2022. Software and databases followed at 18.3%, making the country the fastest-growing economy in that category among those surveyed.
Although R&D and software together accounted for only around 15% of the country’s total intangible investments, WIPO said R&D spending grew more than sixfold over the decade while software and database investments increased more than fivefold.
Organizational capital remained the largest intangible asset category in the Philippines, accounting for 48.3% of the total, followed by brands at 28.9%.
The report also highlighted brands as a strategic asset in the artificial intelligence era, with total brand investment across the surveyed economies reaching $1.4 trillion. The Philippines ranked among the top 12 in this category, with $14.2 billion in brand investments.
Despite the growth in intangible assets, tangible investments continued to account for a larger share of the Philippine economy. The report said tangible investments were equivalent to 20% of GDP, while intangible investments accounted for 4.4%, a pattern WIPO described as typical of a middle-income economy still focused on infrastructure and capital formation.
In remarks during the report’s launch in Geneva on July 8, Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines director general Teodoro Pascua said the findings come as the country enters upper-middle-income status.
“The experience of advanced economies shows that sustained investments in knowledge, technology and IP become the strongest drivers of productivity and growth. As the Philippines enters upper-middle-income status, our rapid gains in R&D, software and brands show that we are paving the way toward that future and that we must reinforce the foundations through innovation-enabling IP policies and programs,” Pascua said.
Marco Alemán, WIPO assistant director general for the IP and Innovation Ecosystems Sector, said intellectual property remains central to helping businesses and economies capture the value of intangible assets.
“These are precisely the assets that intellectual property protects and turns into value, and the report brings various forms of measured and unmeasured intangible assets into view for policymakers and businesses, featuring countries of different levels of development,” he said.
The 2026 edition of the report marks the Philippines’ first inclusion in the “World Intangible Investment Highlights”.
