Country profile · Southeast Asia
Philippines
The Philippines has 116.8 million people (2025), the 14th most in the world, and a defense treaty with the United States from 1951. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the son of the dictator removed in 1986, has led it since 2022. China has controlled Scarborough Shoal, about 230 km off the main island of Luzon, since 2012.
Where the Philippines ranks
All rankings →Resources the Philippines leads in
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Which alliances is the Philippines in?
All alliances →Disputed territories involving the Philippines
All disputed territories →
How does the Philippines vote at the UN?
Philippines' voting record →
With United KingdomShare of recorded UN General Assembly votes on which the Philippines and each country voted the same way, 2025.
Who runs the Philippines?
President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. runs the Philippines. His father, Ferdinand Marcos, ruled from 1965 until the People Power protests of 1986 forced the family to flee to Hawaii. The son became vice governor of the family's home province at 22. He plays the saxophone. He won the 2022 election with 58.77% of the vote, the first majority since 1986, and the constitution allows him one six-year term. His vice president, Sara Duterte, turned against him. In November 2024 she said she had arranged for him to be killed if she were killed. The House impeached her in May 2026, and her Senate trial began in July. Her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, awaits trial at the International Criminal Court over the killings in his drug war. In July 2026 Pulse Asia found that 28% of Filipinos trusted Marcos and 58% trusted Sara Duterte.
Official portrait (2025): Congress of the Philippines, Wikimedia Commons, public domain
Who are the Philippines' allies and rivals?
The United States is the Philippines' only treaty ally. Under the Mutual Defense Treaty of 1951, each country would act if the other's forces, public ships or aircraft are attacked in the Pacific. Guidelines agreed in May 2023 say this includes coast guard ships anywhere in the South China Sea. In 1991 the Philippine Senate rejected a new bases treaty, 12 votes to 11, and the US Navy left in 1992. Under a 2014 agreement, US forces rotate through nine Philippine bases, three of them in the north, facing Taiwan. On May 5, 2026 a US Typhon launcher fired an unarmed Tomahawk missile in the Philippines for the first time. In August 2025 President Marcos said a war over Taiwan would drag the Philippines in "kicking and screaming." China is the largest trade partner and the main rival, though Marcos spoke of a "reset" with China in August 2026.
Allies and partners
United StatesTreaty ally since 1951
JapanTroop access agreement in force since September 2025
AustraliaVisiting forces agreement in force since 2012
South KoreaBuilt its four modern frigates
VietnamSupplied 81% of its rice imports in 2025
IndiaSold it BrahMos anti-ship missiles
Rivals
ChinaHas held Scarborough Shoal since 2012
- Scarborough Shoal Controlled by China since 2012. China declared a nature reserve in 2025.
- Second Thomas Shoal Philippine Marines garrison a grounded World War II ship. China blocked a supply run on September 24, 2026.
- Thitu (Pag-asa) Island Largest Philippine-held island in the Spratlys, with 406 residents in 2024.
- Batanes About 150 km from Taiwan. US anti-ship missiles were brought here for exercises in 2025 and 2026.
- Philippines
- Partner
- Rival
Who does the Philippines trade with?
The United States bought the most Philippine goods in 2025, 15.9% of exports. China sold the most, 28.6% of imports, more than the next three suppliers combined (chart). Exports reached a record $84.5 billion and imports $134.2 billion. Electronics were 54.3% of exports. Filipinos working abroad sent home a record $39.6 billion in 2025. Outsourcing firms, such as call centers, earned more than $40 billion with 1.9 million workers. The USDA ranks the Philippines as the world's largest rice importer, mostly from Vietnam. The country imports about 98% of its oil, and President Marcos declared a national energy emergency on March 24, 2026, after the Iran war pushed up fuel prices. Since July 24, 2026 the United States has charged a 12.5% tariff on Philippine goods, though electronics are exempt.
Sells to
Share of the Philippines' exports
- United States15.9%
- Hong Kong14.6%
- Japan13.7%
- China11.0%
Netherlands4.3%
Buys from
Share of the Philippines' imports
- China28.6%
- Japan7.9%
- South Korea7.9%
Indonesia7.6%- United States6.1%
Goods, 2025. Shares of the Philippines' exports and imports, from the Philippine Statistics Authority.
How strong is the Philippines' military?
The Philippines spent $6.4 billion on its military in 2025, 1.3% of GDP (SIPRI; chart), and has about 162,450 active troops (IISS). A ten-year modernization plan approved in January 2024 would cost about 2 trillion pesos (about $35 billion). The 2026 budget gives it 40 billion pesos, about a fifth of the yearly pace. The navy has four modern frigates built by Hyundai Heavy Industries in South Korea. Two of three BrahMos anti-ship missile batteries from India have arrived. Twelve more South Korean FA-50 light fighters were ordered in June 2025. The United States approved a sale of 20 F-16s in April 2025, but Manila has not chosen a fighter. Japan is building five more large coast guard ships. The Philippines has no nuclear weapons. Its only nuclear power plant, at Bataan, was finished in 1984 under the elder Marcos and never switched on.
Singapore
MalaysiaWhy do China and the Philippines clash in the South China Sea?
China claims most of the South China Sea inside its "nine-dash line." The line overlaps the Philippines' exclusive economic zone, which the Philippines calls the West Philippine Sea. In 2013 the Philippines took China to an international tribunal, which ruled on July 12, 2016 that China has no legal basis for historic rights to resources inside the line, and that Second Thomas Shoal lies in the Philippine zone. It did not rule on who owns the islands. China called the award "null and void." China has controlled Scarborough Shoal since 2012. At Second Thomas Shoal, Philippine Marines live on the BRP Sierra Madre, a World War II ship grounded on the reef on purpose in 1999. In June 2024 Chinese coast guard crews armed with an axe and blades boarded Philippine supply boats there, and a Filipino sailor lost his thumb. On September 24, 2026 Chinese ships blocked a supply run to the Sierra Madre, the first block since a deal in July 2024.