(File photo)

QUEZON CITY, (PIA) -- The Commission on Population and Development (POPCOM) on Wednesday said that the Philippines needs an additional 6 million workers to support the consumer population of the country.

In a public briefing, POPCOM executive director Undersecretary Juan Antonio Perez said that based on 2020 data, there are only 39 million workers in the country for 96 million consumers.

"That is probably not enough. Probably we need to add 6 million more effective workers to have a correct balance of the number of workers supporting the number of consumers," according to Perez.

"That means we have to invest in education and tech voc (technical vocational) and other courses that they can go into. We need effective workers to support our consumers or the older and younger population," continued Perez.

POPCOM previously reported that based on the latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), there is steady growth in the working-age population of the Philippines.

The working age population in the Philippines is 15 to 64 age group which makes up 63.9% of Filipinos. (PIA-NCR)