KSH confirms 4.1% rise in February industrial output

Industrial output – according to the seasonally and working-day adjusted index – was above the previous month’s level by 0.5%, after rising 1.5% in January.

The volume of industrial exports declined by 0.2% compared to the same month of the previous year. Within export sales in manufacturing, exports of transport equipment - representing 37% of the total - dropped by 2.1%. In the manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products – the other significant subsection, accounting for 14% of manufacturing exports – the export volume increased by 3.2%.

Industrial domestic sales grew by 9.9%, within which domestic sales in manufacturing were 13.7% higher year-on-year.

Within industry, production rose by 3.8% in manufacturing (representing a decisive weight of 95%), and by 72% in mining and quarrying (carrying little weight). The output of the energy industry (electricity, gas, steam and air-conditioning supply) increased by 2.7%.

The production of transport equipment, representing 31% of manufacturing output and a key driver of growth in Hungary, rose year-on-year by just 2.1%. The manufacture of parts and accessories for motor vehicles went up by 10.6%, while the manufacture of motor vehicles fell by 5.7%.

The manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products, accounting for 11% of manufacturing, grew by 4.0%.

The manufacture of food products, beverages and tobacco, accounting for almost 10% of manufacturing output, was 7.6% above the low base level of February 2017. The largest of the subgroups, the processing and preserving of meat and production of meat products (representing 27% of the subsection), grew the most, by 15.9%.

Along with a 3.7% rise in the number of employees, the labor productivity of industrial enterprises with five or more employees was 0.1% higher in February than in the same month of 2017.

Of the statistical regions of Hungary, industrial output declined year-on-year only in Western Transdanubia (by 0.4%). In the other regions, volume increases of between 2.7% and 9.3% were recorded, the highest growth being observed in Southern Transdanubia.

The total volume of new orders in the observed subsections of manufacturing increased by 6.4% compared to the same month of 2017. New domestic order volume grew by 8.0%, while new export orders rose by 6.2%. The total stock of orders was below the level of February 2017 by 6.3%.

In January–February 2018

In the first two months of the year, compared to the equivalent period of the previous year, industrial production went up by 5.4%. The volume of export sales, representing 63% of all sales, grew by 2.3%, while that of domestic sales - accounting for 37% of all sales - rose by 4.9%.

The labor productivity of industrial enterprises with five or more employees went up by 1.6%, along with a 3.7% increase in the number of employees in the first two months of the year.

Industrial production rose in every region of Hungary. Similarly to the picture for February alone, the largest volume growth was measured in Southern Transdanubia (11.8%), and the lowest in Western Transdanubia (2.1%).

A first estimate of industrial output data for March 2018 will be published by the KSH on May 8, with a second, more detailed estimate to follow on May 14.