Hungary’s industrial output rose 14.3% year-on-year in February, according to both unadjusted and workday-adjusted figures. Output growth picked up from an unadjusted 13.4% and an adjusted 10.7% in January.
Output was up 0.9% month-on-month in February in a seasonally- and workday-adjusted comparison, slowing from a 15.3% increase in January. The January rise was largely due to a low base in December, when many Hungarians took off on a workday Saturday.
Export sales rose 18.4% year-on-year in February, the fastest rate since last August. Domestic sales dropped 2.7%, the smallest fall for five consecutive months.
Month-on-month, export sales rose 1.7% in February, slowing from an 8.0% increase in January. Domestic sales were up 4.5% after declines in the previous two months. The figures are adjusted for seasonal and workday effects.
January-February output was up 13.8% from the same period a year earlier. Export sales rose 18.5% and domestic sales fell 6.3% during the period.
In a breakdown by market segment, manufacturing sector output was up 15.5% year-on-year in February. All but one of 13 manufacturing branches expanded. Of the biggest branches, output of computer, electronics and optical products rose 27.2%, while output of vehicle manufacturing increased 13.9%. Output of the food, beverages and tobacco branch edged up 1.1% as exports rose but domestic sales dropped. Output of the machine and equipment manufacturing segment climbed 40%.
Exports of the computer, electronics and optical branch rose 24.1% and exports of the vehicle manufacturing segment were up 17.2% year-on-year. The two branches account for more than half of industrial exports.
Hungary’s industrial output rose 10.5% in 2010 after dropping 11.8% in 2009. Export sales volume rose 16.4% in 2010 after a 18.8% decline in 2009. Domestic sales fell 2.9% in 2010 after a 12.5% drop in 2009.
Output per employee at businesses with a staff of at least five rose 8.2% in January-February 2011 from the same period a year earlier, as the rise in output exceeded the 5.3% rise in headcount in the period.
Output in the first two months rose in all regions, with the steepest rise, of 18.6% yr/yr, registered in North Hungary, and the least, 4.8% increase on the South Great Plain.
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