Producer price index continues to decline in April

MANILA – The producer price index (PPI) for manufacturing continued to decline in April this year, but at a slower pace than the recorded decline in March.

In a report released on Thursday, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said the PPI for manufacturing declined by 0.8 percent in April, slightly lower than the recorded 1.1 percent decrease in March this year.

In April last year, the PPI went up by 2.5 percent.

"The slower negative annual growth rate of PPI in April 2024 compared to the annual growth in March 2024 was primarily due to the faster increase in the annual growth rate of manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products industry division at 3.9 percent in April 2024 from 1.7 percent increase in March 2024," the PSA said.

The PSA said other contributors to the slower annual decrease of PPI were the acceleration in the annual rate of manufacture of transport equipment at 1.4 percent from a 0.7 percent annual increase in the previous month, and the slower decline in the annual rate of manufacture of basic metals at 2.7 percent in April 2024 from a 3.1 percent decline in March.

Month-on-month, the PPI for manufacturing went up by 0.4 percent in April from a 0.2 percent increment in March 2024.

The PPI also posted a 0.1 percent monthly increase in April 2023.

The top contributor to the uptrend in the monthly rate of PPI in April 2024 was the manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products with a monthly increase of 2 percent from a 0.7 percent mark-up in the previous month.

The PPI is generated from the results of the Producer Price Survey, which is conducted nationwide.

It measures the average change over time in the prices of products or commodities produced by domestic manufacturers and sold at factory gate prices to wholesalers and/or other consumers in the domestic market. (PNA)