ZAGREB, December 30, 2019 - Croatia's industrial production shrank by 0.4% compared to November 2018, whereas output in the first eleven months of 2019 rose by 0.8% compared to the corresponding period in 2018, the national statistical office (DZS) said on Monday.
The DZS data show that November's industrial production also fell in comparison to October 2019, by 0.7%.
Broken down by industry group, November's production of durable consumer goods saw the biggest rise of 17.5% on the year. Energy production increased 8.3%, and non-durable goods by 1.4%.
On the other hand, the production of capital goods declined by 18.9% and of intermediate goods by 0.4%.
Broken down by types of industrial production, mining and oil and gas production declined by 13.9%, while manufacturing shrank by 3.1%. The provision of electrical energy, gas increased by 16% in November, year on year.
Total industrial sales in Croatia in October grew by 2.3% from September, while according to working-day adjusted data they dropped by 3.1% year on year, according to figures from the national statistical office (DZS).
In October, compared with September, total seasonally and working-day adjusted industrial sales went up by 5.7% on the domestic market and by 0.4% on the foreign market.
A monthly comparison of statistics shows that energy sales dropped by 14.2%, while sales of capital goods increased by 9%, sales of non-durable consumer goods by 6.1%, sales of durable consumer goods by 5.7% and sales of intermediate products by 4.1%.
Year on year, total working-day adjusted industrial sales dropped by 1.1% on the domestic market and by 5.8% on the foreign market.
Energy sales declined by 32.7%, sales of intermediate products by 1.9% and of capital goods by 1.8%, while sales of non-durable consumer goods rose by 6.4% and those of durable consumer goods increased by 3.4%.
In November 2019, the retail trade turnover was higher in real terms at both the monthly and the annual level, with October's annual growth of 3.1% slowing down to 2.5%, the Croatian Bureau of Statistics said on Monday. On the month, the retail trade turnover was higher in real terms by 0.3%.
The retail trade turnover of non-food products (except automotive fuels and lubricants) increased by 5.6%, while the retail trade turnover of food products decreased by 0.2%.
In November 2019, as compared to the same month of the previous year, the retail trade turnover was 2.5% higher in real terms, reflecting a continuation of positive trends in retail, although the annual growth rate slowed down.
Annually, the retail trade turnover of food, beverages and tobacco increased by 3.4% and of non-food products (except of automotive fuels and lubricants) by 5.5%.
At the annual level, the retail trade turnover in real terms has kept increasing since June 2019. After May, when there was an annual decrease (-1.9%) after 56 months of growth, in June consumption jumped 5.9%. In July it went up 3.7%, in August 1.2%, in September 3.5% and in October 3.1%.
In the first 11 months, the working-day adjusted retail trade turnover in real terms increased by 3.6% compared to the same period of the previous year.
Commenting on the data, Raiffeisenbank Austria (RBA) analysts said the improvement of the consumer confidence index, at its highest level to date, indicated that positive annual retail trade growth rates would continue.
Moderate inflation, salary growth, relatively strong consumer lending and a high inclination towards spending confirm expectations that this year's retail trade will record solid results, mirroring the positive trends in personal consumption, RBA said, adding that personal consumption would be the main GDP growth generator this year.
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