Economic data for December 2001 shows that manufacturing production is still contracting in the Philippines with leather and leather products amongst the sectors most affected by the downturn.

According to statistics from the National Statistics Office (NSO) collected from a monthly survey of selected industries, volume of output fell 11.3% in December compared with growth of 6.3% in December 2000.

In terms of the value of output, leather products fell by 62.7%, which was blamed on weak demand in the export market by the NSO. Manufacturing sales also fell in terms of value and volume in December 2001 with leather products posting the biggest value decline of 63%.