This was driven by a renewed fall in manufacturing production as US tariffs and elevated uncertainty affected the goods producing sector, Jingyi Pan, economics associate director, operations of the index management and production group at S&P Global Market Intelligence, wrote in an analytic piece.
Growth in emerging markets further decelerated in May, latest PMI data show.
This was driven by a renewed fall in manufacturing production as US tariffs and elevated uncertainty affected the goods producing sector, S&P Global Market Intelligence noted.
Emerging markets underperformed developed economies for the first time in eight months in May, and India led the emerging market expansion.
The gross domestic product-weighted emerging market PMI output index posted 50.9 in May, down from 51.9 in April. This extended the period of expansion that commenced in January 2023. The rate of growth was the softest in the current sequence, however.
Forward-looking indicators outlined the likelihood of further divergence in sector performance, with new order trends differing between sectors.
Additionally, manufacturing headcounts fell at a sharper pace as spare capacity grew alongside a renewed downturn in goods new orders, he wrote.
Confidence rose across the board while price pressures eased, representing a welcome positive development in May.
Emerging markets underperformed developed economies for the first time in eight months in May.
The easing of emerging market growth pace contrasted with the trend for developed markets, which saw the rate of expansion pick up from near stagnation in April. May 2025 also marked the first time in eight months in which emerging markets expanded at a slower pace compared with developed economies, PAN wrote.
The number of major ‘BRIC’ emerging market economies posting output expansions remained at two in May, though with Russia replacing China in growth.
India continued to lead the emerging market expansion in May. The rate of growth eased since April to a three-month low but remained steep by historical standards. In contrast to the global trend, it was again the goods producing sector that recorded the faster rate of growth in India. The sharp improvements in demand and operations notably also drove a record rise in employment in India.
China recorded the first fall in output in nearly two-and-a-half years on the back of a renewed softening of manufacturing sector conditions.
Brazil also recorded a modest reduction in output, though with the rate of decline picking up to the fastest in four months.
Price pressures eased across emerging markets in May with both the rates of input cost and output price inflation falling compared to April. This was driven mainly by falling manufacturing sector cost inflation, while average selling prices for goods declined marginally for the second time this year, Pan added.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
