Philippines’ Factory Output Falls by Most Since 2001 on Lockdown
By Cecilia Yap
Philippines’ manufacturing production fell by the most since 2001 in April, the first full month of lockdowns imposed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
The sector’s value of production index plunged 61.4% from a year earlier, the Philippine Statistics Authority said on its website. The index measuring the volume of output fell 59.8%, also the most in 19 years.
All 20 industry groups registered decreases in output. The steepest declines were reported in the manufacture of leather products, footwear and apparel, furniture, fabricated metals, rubber and plastic goods, and tobacco products, the agency said.
Less than a quarter of respondents to the Statistics Authority’s survey said they operated at full capacity.
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