The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) data released by the CSO (Central Statistics Office) for December 2017 says the industrial production grew 3.7 per cent in April-December 2017, which is down from 5.1 per cent in the corresponding period a year ago. The General Index for December 2017 stands at 130.3, which is 7.1 per cent higher as compared to the level in December 2016. The manufacturing of ‘transport equipment’ recorded highest growth as compared to the corresponding previous year period, while the tobacco production showed the highest negative growth. The IIP data for November, which was released in January, had registered the industrial production growth to 25-month high of 8.4 per cent.
The IIP for the mining, manufacturing and electricity sectors for December stand at 115.5, 131.6 and 143.9, respectively, with the corresponding growth rates of 1.2 per cent, 8.4 per cent and 4.4 per cent as compared to December 2016. The cumulative growth in these three sectors during April-December 2017 over the corresponding period of 2016 has been 2.8 per cent, 3.8 per cent and 5.1 per cent, respectively.
In terms of industries, 16 out of the 23 industry groups in the manufacturing sector have shown positive growth in December 2017 as compared to the corresponding month of the previous year.
The industry group ‘Manufacture of other transport equipment’ showed the highest positive growth of 38.3 per cent followed by 33.6 per cent in ‘Manufacture of pharmaceuticals, medicinal chemical and botanical products’ and 29.8 per cent in ‘Manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products’.
The industry group ‘Manufacture of tobacco products’ has shown the highest negative growth of (-) 28.2 per cent followed by (-) 22.3 per cent in ‘Other manufacturing’ and (-) 14.9 per cent in ‘Manufacture of electrical equipment’.
Apart from releasing the quick estimates of the IIP for December 2017, the CSO also released the first revised estimates for the indices for November 2017 and September 2017.
