Ernesto del Mar Pernia (born December 30, 1943) is a Filipino economist, writer and professor emeritus at the University of the Philippines School of Economics.

Pernia attended the San Carlos Major Seminary in Cebu City where he graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in Philosophy in 1963.

[3] He completed his dissertation, "Urbanization, population growth, and development in the Philippines", under the supervision of Kingsley Davis and Michael Wiseman in 1976.

[1] Throughout his long career as an economist, Pernia also consulted for the World Bank, the Population Council East and South Asia Regional Office, the United Nations University, the United Nations Center for Regional Development, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, and USAid.

[1] In June 2016, Pernia was appointed by President Duterte as the Director-General of NEDA, making him the Socioeconomic Planning Secretary and a member of the Cabinet.