Manufacturing output both in volume and value grew at a faster pace in December last year, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.

PSA data released on Wednesday showed that the value of production index (VaPI) grew by 2.6 percent, faster than the 2 percent expansion in November 2023.

It was, however, lower than year-ago’s 10.1 percent growth.

“The expansion in the annual growth of the VaPI in December 2023 was mainly attributed [to] the slower annual decrease in the manufacture of food products at 0.8 percent in December 2023 from its annual drop of 3.7 percent in the previous month,” the PSA said.

The volume of production index (VoPI), on the other hand, increased by 2 percent, faster than the 1.8 percent growth in November 2023 but slower than December 2022’s 4.5 percent expansion.

“The expansion in the annual growth of the VoPI in December 2023 was mainly brought about by the slower annual decline in the manufacture of food products at 1.4 percent in December 2023 compared with its annual drop of 4.9 percent in the previous month,” the PSA said.

The average utilization rate for the manufacturing section in December 2023 slightly declined to 74.3 percent from 74.8 percent in November.

The PSA said all industry divisions reported capacity utilization rates of more than 60 percent during the month.

The top three industry divisions in terms of reported capacity utilization rate were manufacture of rubber and plastic products (80 percent), manufacture of machinery and equipment except electrical (79.8 percent), and manufacture of beverages (79.6 percent). (PNA)