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.