The country’s manufacturing activity fell to 48.2 index points in January 2017, down from 52.0 recorded in December, the Central Bank of Nigeria said in its Purchasing Managers’ Index released on Tuesday.
The report showed that while the manufacturing PMI dropped to 48.2 index points, the non-manufacturing PMI stood at 49.4 points, indicating a slower decline compared with the 47.1 points recorded for December 2016.
In the PMI report posted on its website, the CBN said, “A composite PMI above 50 points indicates that the manufacturing non-manufacturing economy is generally expanding, 50 points indicate no change and below 50 points indicate that it is generally declining.
Though the manufacturing PMI grew in December 2016, it had recorded declines for eleven consecutive months and averaged 45.2 in the last 12 months. The report showed that 10 of the 16 sub-sectors surveyed recorded decline in the month under review while the remaining six sub-sectors expanded.