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Louella Desiderio - The Philippine Star
February 3, 2026 | 12:00am
Photo shows workers at a textile factory in Manila.
STAR / File
MANILA, Philippines — The country’s manufacturing sector started 2026 on a strong note, expanding at its fastest pace in nine months, supported by higher demand and output, according to S&P Global.
In a statement yesterday, S&P Global said that the Philippines’ manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) registered a nine-month high of 52.9 in January, up from 50.2 in December last year.
The January PMI was the highest seen since the April 2025 PMI reading of 53.
The PMI, which tracks operating conditions in the manufacturing sector, is generated from a survey of around 400 manufacturers.
An above-50 PMI reading indicates growth from the previous month, while below 50 denotes a decline.
“After a prolonged period of subdued growth in the second half of 2025, the first PMI data release for 2026 points to a marked shift in momentum. New orders registered a strong and accelerated uptick, supported in part by a renewed rise in export demand,” S&P Global Market Intelligence economist Maryam Baluch said.
As a result, she said output posted growth for the first time in five months.
“Firms responded by stepping up their purchasing activity and increasing their staffing levels in January,” she said.
Job creation in the manufacturing sector posted growth in January, after two consecutive months of declines, allowing Filipino manufacturers to reduce their work backlogs at the start of the year.
Prices charged for Filipino manufactured goods posted a slight increase in January this year as the pace of input price inflation was broadly unchanged from December last year.
“Despite these encouraging developments, January data pointed to a worrying decline in business confidence,” Baluch said.
The manufacturing sector’s level of optimism slipped to the second?weakest level on record, surpassing only the survey low observed at the onset of the COVID?19 pandemic in March 2020.
While Philippine manufacturing firms are hopeful of seeing improved demand, expectations were dampened by headwinds from economic uncertainty in key export markets.
“This hesitancy reflects lingering concerns regarding export demand and the sustainability of the latest improvement,” Baluch said.
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