Manufacturing lifts Hungaryʼs industrial output in January

Based on working day-adjusted data, production grew by 6.7% in January. Output – again according to the seasonally and working day-adjusted index – was above the previous month’s level by 1.5%.

The volume of industrial exports exceeded the level of the previous year by 4.9%. Within export sales in manufacturing, the exports of transport equipment (representing 35% of the total) rose by 3.4%. In the manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products – the other significant subsection, accounting for 15% of manufacturing exports – the export volume increased by 7.9%.

Industrial domestic sales edged up by 0.4%, within which the domestic sales of manufacturing were 16.8% higher year-on-year.

Within industry, production rose by 8.4% in manufacturing - representing a decisive weight (95%) - and by 94% in mining and quarrying (carrying little weight).

The output of the energy industry (electricity, gas, steam and air-conditioning supply) fell by 18.1%, mainly as a result of much warmer weather compared with the previous year (according to the Hungarian Meteorological Service, the January 2018 average temperature was 8.5 degrees C higher than the January 2017 average).

The production of transport equipment - representing 29% of manufacturing output - rose year-on-year by 5.2%. The manufacture of parts and accessories for motor vehicles went up by 10.5%, while the manufacture of motor vehicles declined by 0.9%.

The manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products - accounting for 12% of manufacturing - grew by 6.7%. The more significant of the two largest groups, the manufacture of communication equipment, increased by 51%, while the manufacture of consumer electronics dropped by 4.9%.

The manufacture of food products, beverages and tobacco products - accounting for 10% of manufacturing - was 9.8% above the low base level of the same month of the previous year.

The manufacture of basic metals and fabricated metal products rose by 16.1%, while the manufacture of rubber and plastics products, and other non-metallic mineral products, went up by 24.5%, owing to increases in both domestic and export demand.

Another big output increase was seen in pharmaceuticals, at 29.0%.

Along with a 3.0% increase in the number of employees, the labor productivity of industrial enterprises with five or more employees was 3.7% higher in January 2018 than in the same month of the previous year.

Industrial output rose in every region of Hungary year-on-year, the most by 14.2% in Southern Transdanubia, and the least by 3.0% in the Northern Great Plain.

The volume of total new orders in the observed subsections of manufacturing increased by 12% compared to the same month of 2017. The volume of new domestic orders grew by 22%, while new export orders rose by 10.7%. The volume of orders was below the level of January 2017 by 6.2%.

A first estimate of industrial output figures for February 2018 will be published by the KSH on April 6.