Historical economic data shows Philippines was not 'richest Asian nation' in the 1920s

"In the 1920s, we were the most advanced, richest and most beautiful country in Asia," read part of a Tagalog-language Facebook post shared on May 1, 2024.

"But now we sing, 'What happened to our country?' It's because of those corrupt animals that not only lurk in the water but also in the cities."

The post was accompanied by four pictures, presented as showing China, Singapore, South Korea and the Philippines in the 1920s.

While the images depicting China, Singapore and South Korea are in black-and-white and appear to show rural areas, the Philippines picture is in colour and shows cars and a large neoclassical building.

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Screenshot of the misleading Facebook post, captured on May 10, 2024

The post was shared widely on Facebook, for example here, here and here.

Comments on the posts indicate users had been misled.

"At least we once experienced what it was like to be superior to some of the most developed countries," one user wrote.

Another said: "We were way more developed than those countries. But what about now? We've lagged behind because of people who abused their power."

But historical economic data shows the Philippines was not the "richest" country in Asia in the 1920s.

'Not the best'

Comparing available GDP data -- a key measure of economic performance -- found China and India performed the best in Asia in the 1920s.

The data was compiled in the Maddison Project Database, which collects data from historical national accounts and analysis of economic data since the year 1000 (archived link).

India topped the list of Asian countries between 1920 and 1928 but dropped to second after data for China became available from 1929 (archived link).

The Philippines' GDP was higher than the other two countries that are pictured in the misleading post -- Singapore and South Korea -- but was dwarfed by India and China's figures.

Luisito Abueg, an assistant professor of economics at the University of the Philippines Los Banos told AFP on May 22 the Philippines had been nicknamed "Paris of the East" at the time because of its Art Deco architecture.

However, he said the Philippines' "economic performance may be good and one of the best, but not the best".

Misrepresented photos

The pictures used in the posts circulating online are also misleading.

Reverse image searches on Google found only the picture labelled "South Korea" was captured in the 1920s.

It matches a picture posted by photo agency Getty Images that is captioned: "2/14/1920-Seoul, Korea: Street scene daily life in Korea." (archived link).

The image labelled "Singapore" was taken in 1911, according to the country's National Heritage Board (archived link).

"The postcard depicts a view of the Malay village on Rochor river in 1911. Kampong houses can be seen in the background," reads part of the photo's description. 

The image used to illustrate China in the 1920s corresponds to a photo published by Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua (archived link).

Its caption says it shows Chung Ying Street in the late 1940s. The street ran between China and colonial Hong Kong, with stone markers in the middle of the road marking the border.

The image of the Philippines originated from a black-and-white photo on the Flickr account of John Tewell, a collector of old Philippine photographs (archived link).

Tewell's caption reads, "Jones Bridge, Post Office Building, Manila, Philippines, 1936-1939".

Below is a screenshot comparison between the misleadingly shared image (left) and the photo from Tewell's collection (right):

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Screenshot comparison between the misleadingly shared image (left) and the photo from Tewell''s collection (right)

A colourised version of the photo was posted on Facebook on April 27, 2020 (archived link).

The earliest the photo could have been taken is 1930, when construction on the Manila Central Post Office -- the white building seen in the picture adjacent to the river -- was completed (archived link).

AFP debunked a similar claim about the Philippines' economic standing in Asia in the 20th century here.