Production volume and value in the manufacturing sector grew double digits in January 2023, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported Thursday.

Volume of production index (VoPI) at the start of the year went up to 10.6 percent from 4.2 percent in December 2022.

It was slightly lower compared to the January 2022 index of 10.9 percent.

The PSA said the top three contributors to the higher VoPi in January 2023 were manufacture of food products, transport equipment and electrical equipment.

Value of production index (VaPI) during the month stood at 15.4 percent, surpassing the growth in December 2022 and January 2022 at 9.5 percent and 15.1 percent, respectively.

Manufacture of food products was the main contributor on VoPI at the start of the year, the PSA said.

“The manufacture of food products contributed 29.0 percent to the upward trend of the VaPI of the manufacturing sector in January 2023. Out of the 22 industry divisions for the manufacturing sector, manufacture of food products had the highest weight in the computation of VaPI,” it added.

Manufacture of transport equipment and electrical equipment were also the major contributors in VaPI in January.

Meanwhile, the average capacity utilization rate of Philippine factories at the start of 2023 improved to 72.6 percent from 71.5 percent in the previous month.

“Almost all the industry divisions reported capacity utilization rates of more than 60 percent, except for manufacture of paper and paper products (56.1),” PSA said.

Industry divisions with highest capacity utilization rate include wearing apparel, machinery and equipment except electrical, and transport equipment.

“The proportion of establishments that operated at full capacity (90 to 100 percent) was 21.1 percent of the total number of responding establishments. Meanwhile, 39.6 percent operated at 70 to 89 percent capacity, while 39.3 percent operated below 70 percent capacity,” PSA added. (PNA)