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Philippine manufacturing growth eased in January but still in double digit
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The Volume of Production Index’s 16.5% growth and the Value of Production Index’s 21.3% expansion were slower than the December 2021 figures although they were reversals from year-ago levels
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The manufacture of tobacco products led growth in industry divisions
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The manufacturing sector’s average capacity utilization rate in January edged up to 67.9% from 67.4% last December
The Philippine manufacturing sector maintained double-digit growth in January, albeit slower than the expansion in December 2021, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.
The Volume of Production Index (VoPI) grew 16.5% in January, slower than the 21.3% annual increase registered last December 2021 but a reversal from the 14.5% decline in January 2021, the PSA’s latest Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries shows.
The Value of Production Index (VaPI) also rose 21.3% in January compared with a slightly faster annual growth of 22.1% in December 2021, but is in contrast with -19.5% in January 2021.
VoPI and VaPI started rallying in April 2021 after 13 consecutive months of decline due to the effects of pandemic-related restrictions in the country starting in March 2020 that pulled down the sector’s production and sales indices.
The VoPI expansion was brought about by positive growth rates posted by 16 out of 22 industry divisions.
The major contributors were manufacture of tobacco products, which grew 88.4% year on year and manufacture of wood, bamboo, cane, rattan articles and related products, which expanded 86.8%.
The remaining six industry divisions recorded downturns, with manufacture of wearing apparel shrinking 24.2% year on year.
Upturns in 19 of the 22 industry divisions contributed to the growth in VaPI. The top contributor among these was manufacture of tobacco with an 88.1% annual growth rate. The remaining three industry divisions saw their values decrease, with manufacture of wearing apparel registering the fastest annual decline of 22.4%.
Based on the survey’s responding establishments, the average capacity utilization rate for the manufacturing sector in January 2022 was reported at 67.9%, an increase from the 67.4% in the previous month.
There were 20 out of 22 industry divisions that reported more than 50% average capacity utilization rates. These were led by manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products at 84.2%, manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations at 79%, and manufacture of furniture at 78.8%.
Establishments that operated at 90% to 100% capacity comprised 17.8% of the total while 34.3% operated at 70% to 89% capacity and 47.9% operated at 70%.
