Philippine manufacturing output slightly recovered from the steeper 1.5 percent decline in February, registered a softer 0.2 percent dip in March, and elevated the country’s production performance in the first quarter.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the volume of production index (VoPI) in the manufacturing sector expanded at an average rate of 0.2 percent in the first three months of 2025.

Compared to last year’s performance, the sector’s production growth in March 2025 was way faster than the annual decline of 5.1 percent posted in March 2024.

As per the PSA, the main driver of the modest recovery in the sector during the month was the stronger growth in the food manufacturing industry, which climbed by 18.8 percent. It saw a 13.5 percent rise in the previous month.

The faster annual growth in food manufacturing output was mainly fueled by increased production in meat processing, other food products, as well as grain mill and starch-based goods.

The other two major contributors to the improvement were the production of transport equipment, which rebounded with a five-percent increase, and electronics, which posted a 2.2 percent gain.

All of these industries have improved from weaker or negative performances in February, the PSA noted in a May 7 statement.

In terms of value, as measured by the value of production index (VaPI), the manufacturing sector also increased by 0.4 percent, reversing the 0.6 percent decline seen in February.

March’s VaPI growth brought the first-quarter average growth to 0.9 percent, strongly recovering from the 6.2 percent value drop a year earlier.

As in the volume, the rebound in the value of production in March was largely driven by a stronger 19.2 percent annual growth in food manufacturing, which was higher than the 13.9 percent growth in the previous month.

Food manufacturing held the heaviest weight in the computation of the VaPI during the month, contributing 35.4 percent to the overall improvement in the sector’s health.

Other major contributors to the VaPI’s annual growth included the rebound in transport equipment manufacturing and the faster growth in the production of computer, electronic, and optical products.

Meanwhile, the value of the net sales index (VaNSI) posted a slower annual growth of 7.2 percent in March 2025, softer than the 9.6 percent annual growth in February. This brought the average increase for the first quarter to 8.6 percent.

The PSA explained that the slower sales growth was mainly due to a sharp deceleration in the manufacture of basic metals, which grew only by 12.5 percent—down from 41.1 percent in February. This sector accounted for 43.1 percent of the overall trend in VaNSI for the month.

Other contributors were the weaker growth in sectors such as computer, electronic and optical products, and beverages.