The seasonally adjusted industrial production index fell by 5.1% in December 2018, as compared to the preceding month, according to a report by the Maltese National Statistics Office (NSO) this morning. The figure also dropped, by 2.6%, as compared to the same month a year earlier.
All the main industrial sectors registered decreases, according to the NSO release. As compared to the previous month, the production of consumer goods fell by 4.8%, capital goods were down by 4.7%, intermediate goods slipped 3.2%, and energy was down by 0.4%, according to NSO data.
In an annual comparison, the production of consumer goods fell by 4.7%, intermediate products decreased by 3.5%, and energy slipped by 0.5% in December. However, the output of capital goods increased by 2.4%.
“The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is regarded as one of the most important measures of the economy,” as the figure describes the economic cycles of industry, the NSO remind in its methodological notes.
The full report including charts and visual representation of data is available for download at the website of NSO.