In May the growth of industrial production slightly slowed down

News
Posted on 1 July 2011, 11:00
According to Statistics Estonia, in May 2011 the production of industrial enterprises grew 26% compared to May of the previous year. If during the last eight months the production grew around 30%, then in May the growth of industrial production slightly slowed down compared to May of the previous year.

The growth of production has been mainly influenced by the increase in external demand as previously, but the domestic demand also increased compared to May of the previous year.

In May 2011, the production of manufacturing increased by nearly a third compared to May 2010. Export sales of the manufacturing production grew significantly (62%). About three quarters of the whole production of manufacturing was sold on the external market. The demand on the domestic market was continually lower – the domestic sales increased 21% compared to May of the previous year.

In May, the production exceeded the volume of the same month of the previous year in most branches of industry. Manufacturing of electronic products, which increased by three times compared to May of the previous year, influenced the growth in production the most. The branches holding bigger shares were also the manufacturing of wood, food and metal products where the production grew 12%, 6% and 18%, respectively. With respect to the branches of manufacturing holding smaller shares, the production increased considerably in the manufacturing of chemicals mainly due to the increase in exports.

In May 2011 compared to April, the seasonally adjusted industrial production as well as manufacturing decreased 2%.

In May 2011 compared to May 2010, the production of electricity increased 2% and the production of heat increased 3%.

Trends of production in branches of industry, January 2002 – May 2011 (2005 = 100)

Diagram: Trends of production in branches of industry, January 2002 – May 2011 (2005 = 100)

Change in volume index of industrial production, May 2011 (percentages)
Economic activity change compared
to the previous month
according to seasonally adjusted dataa
change compared to
the corresponding
month of the previous year
according to
unadjusted
data
according to
working-day
adjusted datab
TOTAL -2.5 29.4 26.1
Energy production 4.8 2.5 2.5
Mining -11.3 6.4 6.4
Manufacturing -2.4 34.7 31.0
manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products -20.6 209.2 200.1
manufacture of wood and wood products 1.3 14.3 11.6
manufacture of food products 2.2 7.9 6.1
manufacture of fabricated metal products 5.4 22.6 18.2
manufacture of electrical equipment 1.2 23.3 23.3
manufacture of chemicals and chemical products 61.3 102.1 95.9
manufacture of motor vehicles -1.6 28.3 25.2
manufacture of machinery and equipment -2.1 46.2 41.1
manufacture of rubber and plastic products 0.0 12.4 8.1
manufacture of building materials 4.9 14.8 12.1

aIn case of the seasonally adjusted volume index, the impact of the differing numbers of working days in a month and seasonally recurring factors has been eliminated. It is calculated only in comparison with the previous period.

bIn case of the working-day adjusted volume index, the impact of the differing number of working days in a month has been eliminated. It is calculated only in comparison with the corresponding period of the previous year.