Investment Volume Down 6.3% y.o.y. in Q4 2022

Compared to Q4 2021, construction investments representing more than six-tenth of the total volume of investments decreased by 6.6%, while investments in machinery and equipment representing about three-tenth of the total value of investment fell by 5.5%. Within investments in machinery and equipment, both the volume of imported machinery and that of domestically fabricated ones fell.

The volume of investment in the case of enterprises employing at least 50 people and realizing 54% of the investment performance decreased by 2.7%. The general decline in investments was partly caused by larger companies, where both foreign-owned companies and state-owned ones moderated their developments. At the same time in the case of budgetary units, realizing 12% of investments, developments lagged significantly, by 28% behind the base period value, among others due to the smaller volume of projects financed by EU funds during the current period.

The volume of other investments (enterprises with fewer than 50 employees, individual enterprises, non-profit ones as well as households) decreased by 4.3%.

Despite the general decrease in investments, the performance value increased in six sectors of the national economy, KSH notes.

Developments of manufacturing, the largest investor, accounting for three-tenth of developments in the national economy, increased greatly, by 13% in the current quarter. Large-scale projects going on for a longer time as well as newly starting ones in the field of electrical equipment production played a decisive role in the growth, as well as the revival of vehicle production, representing the second largest weight.

Investment performance increased also in the subsections of the manufacture of rubber and plastics products; the manufacture of electrical equipment; and the manufacture of pharmaceuticals, and medicinal products, too.

The investment performance of real estate activities, the second largest investor, accounting for 24% of developments in the national economy declined by -2.8%, which is due, among other things, to the run-out of the lively office building construction projects, characterizing the base period.

The decrease in investment volumes in transportation and storage, characterizing the previous quarters, too, continued (-20%), the unfavorable performance was mainly due to the lessening in state infrastructural developments.

The reason for the 13% volume decrease in trade was – among others – the decrease in the investment activity of the trade (within it mainly in the developments of sale in non-specialized stores with food, beverages, or tobacco predominating) in the current period, which stimulated the same period of the previous year.

Public administration developments fell by 17%, partly due to central and local government’s restrained investments.

After the significant expansion in the first half of the year, the investment performance in agriculture, forestry and fishing decreased by 8.1%, where the fact that larger companies dealing with stock-raising or crop production reduced their investment expenditures also played a role.

The 6.3% volume decrease of the national economy’s investments in the fourth quarter of 2022 was partially offset by the manufacturing industry with 3.2 percentage points. Furthermore, the next five largest weight-carrying sections lessened their investment activities, contributing to the lower volume: real estate activities, transportation, trade, public administration as well as agriculture (successively by 0.6; 2.5; 0.7; 1, and 0.3 percentage points).

Investment Volume up 1% in 2022

The volume of investments in the national economy increased by 1.0%, within it the volume of construction investments grew by 1.7%, and investments in machinery and equipment expanded by 0.2%.

Investment performance increased in the case of enterprises employing at least 50 persons, providing 54% of investments, by 3.9% and fell by 16% in the case of government bodies.

For the year as a whole, investment decreased in all but six sections.

Among the most important investing sections, investment grew by 21% in manufacturing, which accounts for nearly three-tenths of performance value, and by 4.4% in real estate activities, which account for more than a fifth of investments. In contrast, the volume in transportation and storage, representing 12% of the national economy’s investments fell by 7.9%. These three sections accounted for more than six-tenths of investments.

Trade, the fourth largest area of investments, fell in volume (-8.7%), and the volume in public administration decreased by almost the same extent (-9.8%), too.

At the same time, in the sixth largest section, agriculture, there was an increase, (+6.6%), also investments in construction, having a smaller share, registered a slight growth (+1.3%).