Industrial production sees 31% drop in annual activity
On an annual basis, production in manufacturing industries was 31.3% lower in the three months from September to November 2023. Photo: Ben Birchall
Production in manufacturing facilities fell by just under a third in the three months ending in November 2023 compared to the same period a year ago.
New figures from the Central Statistics Office found that the highly globalised modern sector, which includes the chemical, pharmaceutical and computer & electronic industries, experienced a 33.2% decrease in industrial production from September to November 2023 compared to the same period in 2022.
This compares to an increase of 3.1% in the traditional sector, which comprises all industries except for chemical, pharmaceutical and computer & electronic.
Quarterly, production in manufacturing industries decreased by 12.4% when compared with the previous three-month period.
Commenting on the release, CSO Statistician in the Business Statistics Division, Colin Cotter said, "On an annual basis, production in manufacturing industries was 31.3% lower in the three months from September to November 2023."
"However, this large decline was not uniform across the various industrial sub-sectors. For instance, the highly globalised Modern sector experienced a 33.2% decrease in industrial production from September to November 2023, compared with the same period in 2022."
Mr Cotter added that 2022 was a "very strong year" for industrial production in the multinational-dominated modern sector, which "should be noted when drawing comparisons between 2023 and 2022."
The CSO has said the scale of contract manufacturing and outsourcing in the Irish industrial economy has increased since 2015, which means there are very high levels of short-term volatility in the data.
Food production rose by 7.8% in the three months from September to November 2023 compared with the same period in 2022.
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