In February, industrial production grew by 2.3 percent.
Industrial production in Croatia in February increased by 2.3 percent, which means that February was the 25th consecutive month of growth. However, the growth was slower than the month before and lower than expected, reports Večernji List on March 31, 2017.
Central Bureau of Statistics announced on Friday that industrial production, according to the calendar adjusted data, in February fell by 2.3 percent compared to the same month last year. This is slower growth than in the previous month, when the industrial production increased by 4.0 percent year-on-year. Four macroeconomists, who participated in an earlier HINA survey, estimated on average that in February industrial production grew by 4.1 percent year-on-year. Their estimates of growth ranged from 3.1 to 5.5 percent.
February continued the trend of industrial production growth year-on-year, which has now lasted for 25 months, which has not been recorded since the pre-recession 2007. “Although the rate of growth indicates a slowing pace, the latest data from the Central Bureau of Statistics still confirm the continuation of the positive cycle, which dates from February 2015,” said the analysts of Raiffeisenbank Austria (RBA) in their review of the report.
In February, the highest growth was recorded with the production of intermediate goods, which grew by 12.1 percent year-on-year, while energy production rose by 2.2 percent. On the other hand, production of durable consumer goods fell by 8.8 percent, while the production of capital goods dropped by 5 percent. Production of non-durable products fell by 4.6 percent year-on-year.
While the industrial production increased on the annual level, on a monthly level it declined by 1.4 percent. “The monthly decline was supported by lower production in all categories, with the more pronounced decline in the category of intermediate goods by 11.8 percent,” said the RBA analysts.
They point out that, in the coming months, they expect continued positive annual growth rates of industrial production, and thus a positive contribution to the gross value added of the whole economy. In the first two months of this year, industrial production increased by 3.1 percent compared to the same period last year.
If the industrial production increases this year as well, that would be the fourth consecutive year of growth. In 2016, industrial production increased by 5.0 percent, which was much faster than in previous years.
