August figures on industrial output were a pleasant surprise following months of year on year declines. Data released by the Slovak Statistics Office on October 8 showed that industrial output shrank 5.7 percent y-o-y in the eighth month of 2009, the SITA newswire reported.
This is the best result this year and the softest decrease since October 2008. Analysts had predicted a softer decrease but had still estimated the decrease to be over ten percent. A 14.2-percent drop in production related to supplies of electric power and natural gas and a 4.2-percent decline in industrial manufacturing were behind the decrease in August. Output in mining and exploration went up by 0.9 percent.
Most fields of industrial manufacturing saw declines. The production of electrical devices shrank the most, by 21.7 percent. Production of machines and devices slumped 20.1 percent. Production of textiles, clothing, leather and leather products went down by 15.2 percent. IT, electronic and optical products grew in August by 66.8 percent. Eight months into 2009, total industrial output is 19.9 percent lower than the previous year. SITA
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
