The total production of industrial enterprises increased by 9% YoY in September, state agency Statistics Estonia said. Production increased by 20% in energy production and by 8% in manufacturing, but decreased by 2% in mining.
Statistics Estonia analyst Helle Bunder said that the production volumes in manufacturing in September were similar to the previous month.
“Production increased by 8.5% in August and by 8.3% in September. Again, production increased in most manufacturing activities,” the analyst said.
Among the activities with larger shares, a considerable growth was recorded in the manufacture of wood (13.8%), fabricated metal products (23.4%) and building materials (22.9%).
Production volumes also increased in the manufacture of furniture (10.6%) and food products (1.6%). Similarly to August, there was a fall in production volumes in the manufacture of electronic products (21.9%) and chemical products (2.8%).
67% of the total production of manufacturing was sold to the external market. The share of export sales was the highest in the manufacture of pharmaceutical products and in the manufacture of computers and electronic products. According to unadjusted data, the export sales of manufacturing production increased by 18% and domestic sales by 28% YoY.
Compared to August, the seasonally adjusted total industrial production grew by 5% and the production of manufacturing by 2%.
In energy production, compared to September 2020, the volume of electricity production (in megawatt-hours) increased by 19% and the production of heat by 29%.
Industry is the largest sector of the economy and an important driver of economic growth. The index of industrial production covers the economic indicators of three industrial activities: mining, energy production and manufacturing. (ERR/Business World Magazine)