MANILA, Philippines — Nearly 70 percent of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) reported lower sales due to the pandemic, according to a survey conducted by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
During the online dialogue of the DTI with the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines, Trade Undersecretary Ireneo Vizmonte said the latest or the third round of survey conducted by the DTI showed that 68.9 percent of small businesses experienced a decline in sales. This was, however, an improvement from the first and second round of surveys conducted by the DTI.
Conducted from Aug. 8 to Sept. 21, the third round covered 4,213 respondents.
“The top three sectors that experienced decline in sales are wholesale and retail trade, manufacturing and other services,” Vizmonte said.
Compared to the 91 percent in the first survey conducted from March 16 to June 17, and 90 percent in the second round conducted from June 18 to Aug.7, Vizmonte said the latest survey showed that there was a significant decline in the number of MSMEs that experienced a drop in sales.
In the latest survey, 26.7 percent of MSMEs said they had higher sales, while 4.3 said their sales remained the same.
In terms of workforce size, the latest survey showed that 66.6 percent of the respondents said they experienced a decline.
The figure, however, is below the 74.8 percent in the first survey, as well as the 69.9 percent in the second round.
Over 20 percent of MSMEs said their workforce size increased in the latest survey, while 12.9 percent said their headcount was unchanged.
Apart from the decline in the number of MSMEs that saw a reduction in sales and workforce, Vizmonte said the number of MSMEs that stopped operations also decreased during the survey period.
In particular, only six percent of the MSMEs said they were not operating in the latest survey.
This is down from 35 percent in the first survey and 10 percent in the second survey.
While six percent of the MSMEs are still closed, Vizmonte said there is still a chance that these businesses would resume operations.
“This does not mean they have totally closed. There is a still a chance they would reopen,” he said.