ZAGREB, January 29, 2019 – Industrial production in Croatia in December plummeted by 6.6% compared to December 2017, and this has been sharpest decline in the last two years, whereas industrial production shrank for the whole of 2018, for the first time in four years, according to data provided by the national statistical office (DZS) on Tuesday.
The seasonal adjusted data show that the December industrial output dropped by 2.9% compared to November 2018, whereas it plunged by 6.6% on the year, thus falling for six months in a row year-on-year.
The 6.6% reduction is the highest since a 14% decline in December 2016.
Trends in Croatia’s industrial production have been unstable in the recent period, and out of the last 14 months, 12 of them saw a decline.
Thus, the industrial production in the whole of 2018 was down by 1% compared to 2017 when it increased by 1.9%
Throughout 2018, only February and June saw a rise in industrial production, while it declined in the other 10 months, RBA analysts say in their comment on the DZS data.
Broken down by types of goods, in December capital goods’ production plunged by 17.6% on the year and the production of energy fell by 8.6% , while the production of durable consumer goods decreased by 7.7% and intermediate goods by 6.5%. Only the production of non-durable consumer goods went up by 1.9% in the last month of 2018.
The RBA analysts expect a moderate recovery rate of industrial production in 2019. They assess that from the point of view of demand, growth will be further generated by branches in connection with wholesale and retail trade, transport and storage, accommodation, hospitality industry, ICT and construction sectors.
More news on the Croatian industry, as well as its economy, can be found in the Business section.
