MANILA, May 8 -- The country's manufacturing output both in volume and value declined in March this year, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Wednesday.

Results of the latest Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries showed that the value of production index (VaPI) contracted by 1.7 percent, a reversal from the 9.1 percent expansion in March last year and 5.7 percent growth seen in February 2024.

"The annual drop of VaPI in March 2024 from an annual increase in February 2024 was mainly attributed to the annual decline in the manufacture of food products at 7.2 percent in March 2024 from an annual increase of 1.6 percent in the previous month," the PSA said.

Other primary contributors to the downtrend were the slowe...