Real consumer spending in the Philippines may exceed P16 trillion by 2021, growing from P11.7 trillion this year, with the bulk coming from expenditures on essentials such as food, utilities and transport, Fitch Group’s BMI Research said in a report.

“With that said, we expect essential spending to remain dominant throughout our forecast period due to low [average] income levels and a large rural population,” BMI said in a latest analysis on the Philippines.