Manufacturing output in the Philippines rebounded in April after a slump in March, the Philippine Statistics Authority said Friday.
The volume of production index (VoPI) for manufacturing rose 6.7 percent year-on-year in April, following a 5.8-percent decline in March.
“This brings the average growth rate of VoPI from January to April 2024 to 0.5 percent,” the PSA said. “In April 2023, VoPI recorded an annual increase of 8.0 percent.”
The PSA attributed the uptick in VoPI to a surge in food manufacturing, which grew 6.8 percent year-on-year in April after a 13.2-percent decline in March.
Other contributors to the growth were the manufacture of transport equipment (up 5.1 percent year-on-year in April from a decline of 12.0 percent in March) and fabricated metal products (up 32.3 percent in April from a decrease of 3.1 percent in March).
Twelve of the 19 remaining industry divisions exhibited annual increases in their indices during the period, while the other seven posted annual decreases.
The value of production index (VaPI) also increased 5.9 percent in April after an annual decline of 6.8 percent in March. VaPI was down 0.6 percent in the first four months.
Data show that the recovery of VaPI was driven by the strong performance of food manufacturing, which increased 7.4 percent year-on-year in April after a decline of 12.5 percent in March. Food manufacturing contributed 31.4 percent to the uptrend of VaPI for the manufacturing sector in April.
Other contributors to the growth of VaPI were transport equipment (up 6.6 percent year-on-year in April from a decline of 11.4 percent in March) and electrical equipment (up 40.9 percent in April from a decrease of 4.3 percent in March).
The value of net sales index (VaNSI) also grew 6.4 percent year-on-year in April, following an annual decrease of 5.3 percent in March. The volume of net sales index (VoNSI) recovered as well, with a growth of 7.2 percent after decreasing 4.2 percent in March.
The PSA said the capacity utilization rate for the manufacturing sector averaged 75.2 percent in April, slightly lower than 75.3 percent in March. All industry divisions reported capacity utilization rates above 60 percent during the month, with non-metallic mineral products (82.1 percent), furniture (81.9 percent) and textiles (80.1 percent) leading the way.
The proportion of establishments that operated at full capacity was 28.8 percent of the total number of responding establishments, the PSA said.
