The business process outsourcing (BPO) sector in the Philippines is expected to hit $48 billion in annual revenues by 2020 on the back of sustained growth from the last ten years. The Philippines compounded average growth rate (CAGR) was between 9 to 12 percent from 2004 to 2014, while the global CAGR of the BPO industry was at 5 to 7 percent during the decade.

Tholons principal Vikrant Khanna said in a recent presentation that the Philippines could expand its share to $48 billion out of the projected $250 billion BPO global revenue by 2020, provided the CAGR continues with its present growth trajectory. The country’s $48 billion target represents about 20 percent of the global revenue.

In the information technology and business process management (IT-BPM) road map created by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP), the country is expected to employ 1.3 million workers and hit $25 billion in revenue by 2016, which represents 12 percent of the global BPO revenue.

IBPAP president Jose Mari Mercado and Science Secretary Mario G. Montejo are both confident that the 2016 targets could be achieved easily. Consultancy group Tholons mentioned that the Philippines grew its revenue twelvefold and its manpower tenfold from 2004 to 2014, adding that BPO revenues this year could reach $18.4 billion.

Mercado added that is it important to create a new IT-BPM roadmap for 2020 that shows new sector targets.