Industrial output grew by 3.4 per cent last year

Industrial output grew by 3.4 per cent from 1995 to 1996, the index of Statistics Finland indicates. Growth remained slower compared to previous years due to poor growth in the first half of the year, but it was still faster than in the EU countries on average.

The rate of industrial output slowed down to just under two per cent in the early part of 1996. This was due mainly to the fall in output in the paper industry. When the prolonged downhill trend in the paper industry came to an end in the latter part of the year, the growth rate in the entire output also accelerated. In the fourth quarter, output increased by nearly seven per cent on the year before.

Change in the volume of industrial output, 1991-1996
% change on the year before

* Preliminary data

The growth in industrial output was still sustained by the metal industry last year, with output up by almost 6 per cent on 1995. Of the main sectors of the metal industry, the manufacture of electrical equipment still saw the greatest increase, up by close on 9 per cent. In the wood and paper industry, instead, the poor development in the first half of 1996 caused the production in 1996 to fall 2.4 per cent lower than in 1995.

Output in the chemical industry was up by close on 2 per cent last year and that in other manufacturing by 2.5 per cent. Energy production grew by close on 10 per cent, growth attributable to the cold winter during the first half of the year and to exports during the latter.

Record-high rate of output in December

Industrial output was up by 8.8 per cent on December 1995, the index per working day of Statistics Finland indicates. It was the highest monthly growth figure during the entire year.

Output in the metal industry grew by slightly over 8 per cent in December. The highest increase in output was in the manufacture of electrical equipment, up by nearly 17 per cent. In the manufacture of pulp, paper and paper products, output grew by a good 16 per cent; in the mechanical wood industry, by as much as 18 per cent on the year before. When examining the growth figures of the two aforementioned industries, the low level of output in the comparison period should be borne in mind.

In the chemical industry output increased by a good 9 per cent in December. Output in other manufacturing in turn grew by close on 6 per cent. The manufacture of glass, clay and stone products, inter alia, continued to increase. The manufacture of furniture was up by as much as one fourth on December 1995.

Output of investment goods was up by nearly 7 per cent in December compared to the previous year. The output of consumer goods also grew by close on 4 per cent on December of the year before, as did that of raw materials, by almost 12 per cent.

The capacity utilisation rate in manufacturing was 81 per cent in December. In the metal industry, the capacity rate was 85 per cent, in the wood and paper industry 83, in the chemical industry 81 and in other manufacturing 73 per cent.

Source: Volume Index of Industrial Output, December 1996
Further information: Ms. Liisa Pulli, tel. +358 9 1734 2480