Stats: Industrial Output in March Down 6.9 percent Y-o-Y (2)

Bratislava, May 10 (TASR) - Slovakia's industrial output in March 2024 decreased by 6.9 percent year-on-year (y-o-y), the Statistics Office reported on Friday. Seasonally adjusted, industrial production went down by 1.2 percent in monthly terms. Following growth in January and stagnation in February, industry saw its first decline since August of last year (after recalculations due to adjustments in methodology). In total, 11 of the 15 monitored sectors of industry reported year-on-year declines, including a number of Slovak industry's core sectors. The most significant impact on the slowdown in industrial performance was a 14.7-percent decline in the production of means of transport. Drops of between 10-15 percent in other industrial structures, in metal production, in machinery and equipment manufacturing and in other manufacturing and the installation of machinery also had important impacts. A significant drop in mining and quarrying, as a result of the closure of mines in the Upper Nitra area, will also contribute to declines in the whole sector throughout the year. In March, mining and quarrying saw a 41.7-percent year-on-year decrease in output. A more significant industry-wide decline was prevented by the continued notably stronger year-on-year performance in the energy sector, i.e. in the supply of electricity, gas, steam and cold air, with the sector posting growth of 30.6 percent in March. This was the second most notable impact on the monthly result for industry as a whole, acting as a significant cushion for falls in other sectors across the economy. Slightly higher output than a year ago was also reported by electrical equipment manufacturing and by coke and petroleum product manufacturing. am/df