Nikkei Asia: Philippines ranks last in global COVID recovery index

John Gabriel Agcaoili, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Village security officers of Barangay 63 co ABS-CBN News/File" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/news/09/01/20210816-covid19-natvidad-street-lockdown-aa0445.jpg"/><figcaption>Village security officers of Barangay 63, Zone 8 barricade Natividad St. in Pasay City on Aug. 16, 2021, after it was placed under special concern lockdown. <em>ABS-CBN News/File</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA - The Philippines fell to the bottom of the latest Nikkei Asia COVID recovery ranking this month, classifying it as the worst among 121 countries based on the trajectories of their recovery from the pandemic.</p><p>The new rating came a week after the Philippines also fell to the bottom of Bloomberg’s COVID Resilience Ranking.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/09/29/21/philippines-at-bottom-of-bloomberg-covid-resilience-ranking">Philippines drops to bottom of Bloomberg&#x27;s COVID Resilience Ranking</a></li></ul><p>According to the <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Coronavirus/COVID-19-Recovery-Index/China-falls-from-top-spot-in-Nikkei-COVID-recovery-ranking">Nikkei Asia&#x27;s COVID-19 Recovery Index</a>, the Philippines still has one of the lowest vaccination rates since only 30% of the country&#x27;s population have been fully inoculated against the coronavirus as of Sept. 30. </p><p>The index said this is &quot;low even among ASEAN countries&quot;.</p><p>Nikkei noted that the Philippine government began &quot;granular&quot; lockdowns in Metro Manila last month, easing some COVID-19 curbs, but minors and senior citizens aged 65 and up are still ordered to remain home.</p><p>&quot;The country is gradually easing restrictions on businesses to revive the economy, allowing gyms to reopen and increasing restaurant dining and salon capacities for vaccinated individuals,&quot; it added.</p><p>The index, which calculates a score between 0 and 90 for each country or region based on infection management, vaccine rollouts, and social mobility, gave the Philippines 30.5 points at 121st place.</p><p>Meanwhile, the ASEAN country highest on the list was Indonesia (54th), followed by Singapore (70th), Cambodia (76th), Malaysia (102th), Myanmar (105th), and Thailand (109th).</p><p>Vietnam, which was the worst performer in the previous two rankings of Nikkei, went up to 118th.</p><p>Laos, meanwhile, dipped to second-worst among all 121 countries.</p><p>China, where the coronavirus first emerged, fell from 1st place to 9th place. The country had taken the top spot since the index was first published in July, the media outlet said.</p><p>Malta took 1st place with a score of 73.0.</p><p>As of Wednesday, the Philippines has logged 2,622,917 total COVID-19 infections, of which 112,807 or 4.3 percent are active, the Department of Health said in its latest bulletin. </p><p>The death toll stood at 38,838 while total recoveries have reached 2,471,282. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/10/06/21/ph-posts-9868-new-cases-doh-data-collection-issue-persists">PH posts 9,868 new cases, DOH data collection issue persists</a></li></ul><p>The Philippines aims to vaccinate some 77 million people to achieve herd immunity and safely reopen its economy. </p><p>In an expansion of the country&#x27;s vaccination drive, six hospitals will start inoculating children aged 12 to 17 next week, officials had said.</p><p>Some 21.9 million Filipinos have been fully vaccinated, while 24.7 million have already received their first dose as of Monday, according to government data.</p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1791208" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

The Philippines has logged 2,622,917 COVID-19 infections, with 38,838 deaths as of Wednesday. 

Nikkei Asia: Philippines ranks last in global COVID recovery index | ABS-CBN

Entertainment

News

Metro.Style

Lifestyle

Sports

More

Traffic

Manila

Horoscope

News

Nikkei Asia: Philippines ranks last in global COVID recovery index

John Gabriel Agcaoili,

ABS-CBN News

Published Oct 06, 2021 07:38 PM PHT

Read More:

Nikkei Asia's COVID-19 Recovery Index

Philippines COVID-19 recovery

pandemic recovery

COVID-19

coronavirus

ABS-CBN is the leading media and entertainment company in the Philippines, offering quality content across TV, radio, digital, and film. Committed to public service and promoting Filipino values, ABS-CBN continues to inspire and connect audiences worldwide.

Corporate

Investors

Governance

International Distribution

Corporate

Governance

Investors

International Distribution

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

AI Policy

Terms of Service

Advertise with Us

© 2025 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2025 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2025 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.