The Croatian Bureau of Statistics (DZS) reported on Wednesday that industrial production had shrunk by 1.6% in July compared with the previous month, while increasing by 3.9% compared with July 2020. This was slower growth than in June, when production had jumped by 8.3% year on year.
“Growth in the volume of industrial production continued in July, albeit at a slower rate compared with the previous months when stronger annual growth was the result of last year’s low base,” analysts at Raiffeisenbank Austria (RBA) said in their comment on the DZS report.
Growth was reported for three of five sectors. Energy production rose the most, by 13.1%, followed by production of non-durable consumer goods (+4.2%) and capital goods (+2.8%). Production of durable consumer goods and intermediate goods fell by 4.7% and 4.1% respectively.
After dropping by 3.4% last year, industrial production increased by 8.7% in the first seven months of this year compared with the same period of last year, contributing to the economic growth and recovery.
The data on further growth of industrial production, as well as recent figures on further growth of retail trade indicate continued recovery of the national economy from the coronavirus crisis. Last week, the DZS released data showing that GDP had jumped by a record 16.1% in the second quarter, its first growth after four quarters of decline.
“Although the epidemiological picture will continue to affect the pace of economic recovery, the growth of foreign and domestic demand and the industry confidence index, which continued to grow in July, nearing 2019’s levels, confirm our expectations of a solid continuation of growth in the volume of industrial production until the end of the year,” RBA said.
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