December sees the sharpest decline in Irish manufacturing volumes for six months

A fall in output, new orders, and purchases, along with increased costs, accounted for last month's decline, AIB Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index shows

Weak export markets were a further headwind to sales pipelines, mostly due to lacklustre economic conditions in the UK and euro area.

Sustained reductions in new orders have led to the fastest drop in Irish manufacturing in six months.

The AIB Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for December fell to 49.1 from 49.9 in November. Any figure below 50 shows a contraction. December marks the second consecutive month of contraction and means activity has fallen in eight months throughout 2024.