The producer price index (PPI), which measures the average change over time in selling prices received by domestic producers of goods and services, grew by 0.5 percent in August 2023 from a year ago.
This was faster than the 0.05 percent increase in July, the Philippine Statistics Authority said Friday.
“[The] manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products industry division was the primary driver to the higher annual increase of producer price for manufactured goods,” the PSA said in a statement.
The growth in August 2023 PPI was slower than 7.4 percent a year ago, the PSA said.
It said the manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products industry division grew by 2.5 percent in August 2023, up from 1.2 percent in July.
“The manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products contributed 36.8 percent to the higher annual growth rate of the PPI for manufacturing in August 2023,” the PSA said.
Among the 22 industry divisions for manufacturing, manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products had the second highest weight in the computation of PPI.
Other main contributors to the higher annual growth of PPI in August were the manufacture of food products with a higher annual growth rate of 2.6 percent, compared to 2.0 percent in the previous month.
The PSA noted the slower annual decline in the PPI of manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products at -5.9 percent from -7.0 percent in the previous month.
It said of the remaining 19 industry divisions, eight exhibited annual increases during the period, while 11 posted annual decreases in August. The fastest annual decline was observed in the manufacture of chemical and chemical products at -6.3 percent.
The PPI for the manufacture of food products posted an annual growth rate of 2.6 percent , than July’s 2.0 percent, but slower relative to the August 2022 increase of 9.2 percent.
“The faster annual growth of the PPI for manufacture of food products in August 2023 from July 2023 was primarily attributed to the slower annual decline of manufacture of vegetable and animal oils and fats industry group at -7.3 percent during the period from -10.4 percent in the past month,” the PSA said.
