MANILA, June 6 (Xinhua) -- The performance of manufacturing production in the Philippines increased in April, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Friday.

Based on preliminary results of the monthly integrated survey of selected industries, the PSA said the value of production index (VaPI) for the manufacturing section registered an annual increment of 4.3 percent in April.

The PSA mainly attributed the uptrend in the annual growth rate of VaPI for manufacturing in April to the yearly increase in the manufacture of basic metals at 17.3 percent during the month, compared with an annual drop of 43.8 percent in the previous month.

Of the remaining 21 industry divisions, 12 exhibited annual increments in their VaPI during the period, while the other nine industry divisions posted yearly drops.

The highest year-on-year decline was noted in the manufacture of chemicals and chemical products during the period.

The top three industry divisions contributing to the overall year-on-year growth of VaPI for manufacturing in April were the manufacture of food products, the manufacture of basic metals, and the manufacture of transport equipment.

In April, the volume of production index (VoPI) for the manufacturing section registered a year-on-year increase of 4.2 percent compared with an annual decrement of 2.0 percent in March.

According to the agency, the uptrend in the year-on-year growth rate of VoPI for manufacturing in April was primarily driven by the uptrend in the annual rate of VaPI for the manufacture of basic metals.

Of the remaining 21 industry divisions, 11 posted annual increments in April, while 10 industry divisions exhibited annual decreases.

The top three industry divisions contributing to the overall year-on-year growth rate of VoPI for manufacturing in April were the manufacture of food products, the manufacture of basic metals, and the manufacture of transport equipment. ■