Pakistan’s Large Scale Manufacturing Industry (LSMI) output increased by 15.69% month-on-month in December 2023, reaching 132.87 compared to 114.85 in November 2023, according to the latest data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) Thursday.
The LSMI production also witnessed a 3.43% year-on-year increase from 128.47 in December 2022.
The provisional quantum indices of the LSMI are based on the latest data supplied by source agencies and using 2015-16 as the base year, the PBS said.
LSMI recorded a slight cumulative decline of 0.39% during the first half of the fiscal year 2024 (6MFY24), compared to the same period in the previous year.
This overall decrease was driven by mixed performance across various sectors. Significant contributors to this drop included textile (-2.05), automobiles (-1.70), furniture (-1.05), with decreases also seen in tobacco (-0.73), paper & board (-0.12), iron & steel products (-0.07), and electrical equipment (-0.38).
Conversely, sectors such as Food (0.76), Garments (2.26), Petroleum Products (0.55), Chemicals (0.30), Pharmaceuticals (1.43), Cement (0.12), showed a positive growth.
Production increased in sectors like food, beverages, wearing apparel, coke & petroleum products, chemicals, fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, non-metallic mineral products, machinery and equipment, and other manufacturing (football) in 6MFY24 compared to 6MFY23.
Meanwhile, a decrease was observed in sectors such as tobacco, textile, iron & steel products, electrical equipment, automobiles, other transport equipment, and furniture.
