Philippines manufacturing output sustains growth in July

MANILA, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) — The performance of manufacturing production in the Philippines sustained its growth in July, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Friday.
Based on the preliminary results of the Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries, the PSA said the year-on-year value of production index (VaPI) and the volume of production index (VoPI) increased by 4.7 percent and 5.3 percent in July, respectively.
The PSA said the VaPI increase in July was faster than the June annual growth of 3.3 percent, bringing the average VaPI growth rate from January to July this year to 1.3 percent.
In July 2023, the VaPI yearly growth was 3.5 percent.
The PSA attributed the acceleration in the year-on-year growth rate of VaPI for manufacturing in July 2024 to the double-digit annual growth rate of the manufacture of computer, electronic, and optical products industry division at 14.4 percent during the month from a yearly increment of 5.6 percent in June 2024.
The manufacture of computer, electronic, and optical products contributed 34.4 percent to the uptrend of VaPI for the manufacturing section in July 2024.
Out of the 22 industry divisions for the manufacturing section, the manufacture of computer, electronic, and optical products was the second industry division with the highest weight in the computation of VaPI for manufacturing.
On the other hand, the PSA said the July VoPI was faster than the 3.6 percent annual growth in June, bringing the average growth rate of VoPI for manufacturing from January to July 2024 to 2.1 percent.
In July 2023, the VoPI for manufacturing recorded an annual increase of 3.6 percent.
The PSA said the uptrend in the year-on-year growth rate of VoPI for manufacturing in July 2024 was primarily driven by three industry divisions, namely the manufacture of computer, electronic, and optical products; the manufacture of transport equipment; and the manufacture of food products.
Of the remaining 19 industry divisions, 11 exhibited annual increases during the period. In contrast, eight industry divisions posted annual declines in July this year. ■