Illustrative stock photo (source: TASR)
Slovakia’s industrial production continued falling for the fifth consecutive month. In December 2019, it fell by 7.1 percent year-on-year, affected mostly by the drop in manufacturing by 8.5 percent, the drop in electricity, gas, steam and air-conditioning supply by 1.9 percent, and the rise in mining and quarrying by 9.7 percent.
“Slovak industry floated on a strong negative wave at the end of the last year,” Ľubomír Koršňák, analyst with analyst of UniCredit Bank Czech Republic and Slovakia, wrote in a memo.
Except for the summer months, Slovak industry marked the biggest y-o-y decrease in December 2019 since the end of 2012.
The biggest contraction
In terms of the specific groupings of the industrial sectors, which contributed most to the total production decrease, the most significant decrease was recorded in the manufacture of transport equipment by 11 percent, manufacture of metal and fabricated metal products except machinery and equipment by 15.2 percent, manufacture of rubber and plastic products and other non-metallic mineral products by 15.9 percent, the manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products by 21.9 percent and the manufacture of wood and paper products, printing by 8.9 percent.
After seasonal adjustment, industrial production decreased by 1.4 percent in December 2019 compared with the previous month.
