Stats: Decline in Industrial Output Deepened to 4 percent Y-o-Y in May

Bratislava, 10 July (TASR) - Slovakia's industrial output continues to decrease, with the year-on-year (y-o-y) decline deepening to 4 percent in May, while in April the drop stood at only 0.4 percent, the Statistics Office reported on Thursday. After seasonal adjustments, industrial output went down by 0.5 percent month-on-month (m-o-m). Industry posted lower year-on-year output for the fourth time since the beginning of the year. The overall performance of industry in May 2025 was affected by downturns in most of its sectors, with only one of the key branches recording stronger growth, but this was not enough to reverse the negative trend. Overall, 11 of the 15 monitored sectors recorded lower year-on-year outputs. The most significant impact on industrial production in May was an almost 7-percent decline in metal production. After two months of moderate growth, production of metals returned to year-on-year drops. The second-most significant impact on the result was due to a decline of over 13 percent in the production of machinery and equipment. A significant decline in output in this sector has persisted since January 2024. Third in terms of overall significance was more than 56-percent growth in the production of coke and petroleum products, but even this couldn't keep the industry in the black. Strong growth in this sector continued for the fourth month, but half of this growth was taken up by returning to the average level for 2021. Another key sector that held back Slovak industry was the production of means of transport, which had the fourth-most significant impact on the overall result. Car production fell by almost 3 percent year-on-year in May. am/df