The increase in manufacturing output in January was mainly driven by the wood industry

News
Posted on 5 March 2025, 8:00

According to Statistics Estonia, in January 2025, the total production of industrial enterprises decreased by 2.5% at constant prices compared with January 2024. Among the three industrial sectors, output increased by 2% in manufacturing but decreased by 7.4% in mining and by 21.8% in electricity production.

Helle Bunder, leading analyst at Statistics Estonia, said that the increased output of manufacturing resulted primarily from the higher volume of production in the manufacture of wood. “In January, the output of the wood industry was up by 8.3% year on year. This was the first time since May 2022 that the output of this industry increased,” explained Bunder.

In January, the volume of industrial production increased in more than half of manufacturing activities. Looking at the larger industries, there was an increase in output in the manufacture of wood (8.3%), fabricated metal products (5.9%) and electrical equipment (3.7%). The volume of production was unchanged in the manufacture of food products and chemical products. Among the activities with larger shares, output declined in the manufacture of computers and electronic products (2.1%), building materials (6.1%) and shale oil (6.2%).

In January 2025, 67.8% of the total production of manufacturing was sold to the external market. Compared with January 2024, the sales of manufacturing production increased by 5.9% at current prices according to working-day adjusted data. Domestic sales grew by 1.5% and export sales by 8.4%.

Change in the volume of industrial production in manufacturing compared with corresponding month of previous year (adjusted with the number of working days)

Compared with December 2024, the seasonally adjusted total industrial production declined by 6% and the production of manufacturing by 5.8% in January 2025.

In energy production, the volume of electricity production (in megawatt-hours) decreased by 11.3% and the production of heat by 19.5% in January.

The volume index and trend of production in manufacturing, January 2015 – January 2025 (2021 = 100)

Volume index of industrial production – an index that expresses the change in the volume of industrial production at constant prices compared with the base period. The producer price index is used for calculating the production values at constant prices.

Value index of industrial sales – an index that expresses the change in the value of sold industrial production at current prices compared with the base period.

Industry is the largest sector of the economy and an important driver of economic growth. The index of industrial production covers the economic indicators of three industrial activities: mining, energy production, and manufacturing.

Statistics Estonia performs the statistical activity “Production indices” for the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications with the aim to determine the economic situation in Estonia.

Information about various industrial activities can be found on the business dashboards.

See also the industry section on our website. More detailed data have been published in the statistical database

When using Statistics Estonia’s data and graphs, please indicate the source.
 

For further information:

Heidi Kukk
Media Relations Manager
Marketing and Dissemination Department
Statistics Estonia
Tel +372 5696 6484
press [at] stat.ee (press[at]stat[dot]ee)

Photo: Shutterstock