THE manufacturing producer price index (PPI) declined by 0.2 percent in September, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Tuesday, showing a decrease from August’s 0.6 percent and 7.7 percent in September 2022.
“The decline in the annual growth rate of PPI in September 2023 was primarily attributed by the deceleration in the annual rate of manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products industry division at 0.02 percent in September 2023 from 2.8 percent in August 2023,” the PSA said in a statement.
The manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products contributed 58.4 percent to the lower annual PPI growth, it added. Out of 22 manufacturing divisions, this has the second-highest weight in the computation of the PPI.
The other main contributors to the negative PPI growth were the manufacture of food products with a lower annual growth rate of 2.1 percent during the period from 2.7 percent in the previous month.
Out of the 19 industry sectors, 12 experienced yearly drops in activity over the period, while seven sectors saw yearly growth in the month. The most substantial yearly increment was noted in the manufacture of beverages at 8.6 percent.
In September of this year, there was a 0.3-percent decrement in the month-on-month manufacturing PPI, following the 0.4-percent monthly growth in August. Moreover, the September 2022 PPI also recorded a 0.8-percent increase.
The leading factor behind the monthly decrease in PPI during the period was the manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products at 0.04 percent during the period from a 1.4-percent monthly increase in August 2023.
Rounding up the top three contributors driving the monthly rise in the manufacturing PPI were the manufacture of food products (0.5 percent from 0.1 percent), and the manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products (0.2 percent from 1.6 percent).
“These three industry divisions contributed 88.7 percent to the monthly decline of PPI for manufacturing in September 2023,” the PSA said.
Furthermore, 10 registered monthly increments, while five exhibited month-on-month declines and four recorded zero-percent growth rate during the period.
