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The Philippine manufacturing sector is off to a strong start in 2025 with faster growth in January driven mainly by improvement in the manufacture of food products sector
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The value of production index for the first month of the year recorded a faster annual increase of 4% compared to growth of 0.4% and 1.4% in December 2024 and January 2024, respectively
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The volume of production grew faster at 3.2% in January from the 0.4% increment in December 2024 and the 0.3% decline in January 2024
The Philippine manufacturing sector is off to a strong start in 2025 with faster growth in January driven mainly by improvement in the manufacture of food products sector, according to latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
The value of production index (VaPI) in the first month of the year recorded a faster annual increase of 4% compared to growth of 0.4% and 1.4% in December 2024 and January 2024, respectively, PSA’s latest Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries (MISSI) showed.
The volume of production (VoPI) likewise grew faster at 3.2% in January 2025 from the 0.4% increment in December 2024 and in contrast to the 0.3% decline in January 2024.
Among 22 industry divisions for the manufacturing section, the manufacture of food products contributed most to the acceleration in VaPI and VoPI in January.
The manufacture of food products jumped 9.3% in value in January, contributing 31.5% to the trend of VaPI. In terms of volume, the manufacture of foods also improved 9.4% in the first month of the year.
Other main contributors for the growth in VaPI and VoPI were the slower annual decline in the manufacture of basic metals and the double-digit annual increment in the manufacture of machinery and equipment.
Aside from the three top contributors, 12 other industry divisions exhibited annual increments in their VaPI in January, while seven other industry divisions posted annual drops.
For VoPI, 11 industry divisions posted annual increases in January 2025 while eight industry divisions exhibited annual declines during the period.
The value of net sales index for the manufacturing section registered a faster year-on-year increment of 7.1% in January 2025, mainly attributed to the faster increment in the manufacture of basic metals.
The increase in the volume of net sales index, on the other hand, slowed to 6.3% in January 2025 from 6.6% in December 2024. The slowdown was mainly due to the annual drop in the manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products at 7.5%.
Based on MISSI’s responding establishments, the average capacity utilization rate for the manufacturing sector in January 2025 was reported at 75.9%, slightly up from the 75.6% average capacity utilization rate in the previous month.
All industry divisions reported capacity utilization rates of more than 60% during the month.
The top three industry divisions in terms of reported capacity utilization rate were printing and reproduction of recorded media at 83.3%, other non-metallic mineral products at 82%, and other manufacturing and repair and installation of machinery and equipment at 80.7%.
