The manufacturing industry registered declines once more in both new orders and output in October 2025, but this did not dampen optimism among stakeholders about growth prospects in the new year, according to new data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.
A further and stronger fall in new orders was recorded last month, accompanied by a solid and fresh reduction in new export orders, the report said. In turn production remained in contraction territory, prompting firms to scale back purchasing activity for the first time in nearly two years.
The headline S&P Global Philippines Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) registered 50.1 in October, up fractionally from 49.9 in the month prior, indicating broadly stable operating conditions across the Filipino manufacturing sector.
The above 50.0 PMI reading masked slight falls in both output and new orders, both now failing to record any growth for a second consecutive month, a trend not seen in over four years, noted S&P Global.
The recent decline in output was closely associated with falling new orders, a situation linked to adverse weather conditions and the end-of-life status for certain products.
Meanwhile, new factory orders placed with manufacturing firms in the Philippines fell more strongly in October, which surveyed stakeholders attributed to a sluggish demand climate, with clients often putting orders on hold.
In addition, new export orders fell for the first time since May, the decline the most pronounced for a year as companies reported weaker demand from international clients.
The country’s manufacturing sector “has now remained in sluggish territory for most of the second half of 2025 so far,” said Maryam Baluch, economist at S&P Global.
Consequently purchasing activity logged a renewed decrease, ending a 22-month period of growth. Despite firms cutting back on their buying activity, delays in delivery times for inputs further lengthened in October, and to the strongest degree in three months.
Turning to prices, underlying cost pressures further eased in October as the pace of input price inflation was modest and the weakest in three months.
Relatively subdued cost pressures and a weak demand environment led Filipino manufacturers to offer discounts at a marginal rate that was nonetheless the strongest since April 2020. Charges levied for Filipino manufactured goods fell for the first time in 19 months.
Surprisingly, workforce numbers grew further in October. Falling new orders and rising workforce numbers meant that Filipino goods producers were able to reduce their backlogs of work for a second straight month in October.
Despite a sustained fall in new orders, Filipino manufactures were more upbeat about output improving over the coming 12 months. Positive sentiment was close to the recent high observed back in August. Companies were hopeful that production will bounce back, supported by strengthening demand trends.
