The country’s manufacturing output went up by 1.9 percent in May, according to a report released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
The Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries showed that the Volume of Production Index (VoPI) recorded in May 2022 is slightly faster than the 1.2 percent increase in April 2022.
However, it is significantly slower compared to the 267.2 percent hike in May 2021.
Contributing to the positive growth of VoPI in May 2022 were 14 industry divisions, of which the fastest growth was reported in manufacture of machinery and equipment except electrical at 50.7 percent.
On the contrary, eight industry divisions recorded decreases with manufacture of electrical equipment registering the fastest annual decline of 19.7 percent.
Meanwhile, the Value of Production Index (VaPI) also exhibited a faster year-on-year growth rate of 8.9 percent in May 2022, from an annual increase of 7.6 percent in the previous month. In May 2021, the VaPI surged with an annual rate of 256.1 percent.
The PSA attributed the annual growth in VaPI to the positive growth rates of 15 industry divisions.
Among these, manufacture of machinery and equipment except electrical posted the highest annual growth of 60.8 percent in May 2022.
On the other hand, the remaining seven industry divisions recorded decrements in their production, with manufacture of electrical equipment registering the fastest annual decline of 16.4 percent.
Based on responding establishments, the average capacity utilization rate for the manufacturing sector in May 2022 was reported at 70.7 percent, from 69.4 percent in the previous month.
The PSA said there were 20 out of 22 industry divisions with more than 60 percent average capacity utilization rate, led by manufacture of furniture (81.4 percent), manufacture of wearing apparel (79.2 percent) and manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products (78.6 percent). – Angela Celis
