15 September, 1999
Inquiries: Mr Rami Peltola +358 9 1734 3615, Mr Kari
Rautio +358 9 1734 2479
Director in charge: Mr Ilkka Hyppönen
Industrial output up by 3.9 per cent in July
According to Statistics Finland, industrial output as calculated per working day grew by 3.9 per cent in the year to July. In June, the corresponding figure stood at 5.7 per cent. More summer holidays were taken in July this year than the year before. This was also visible in the electrical industry, where output was nearly 19 per cent higher in July than a year earlier, while the growth had been almost 37 per cent in June. Due to the favourable weather, output in mining and quarrying grew by almost 42 per cent. The manufacture of foodstuffs and beverages increased by 5.5 per cent.
Capacity utilisation rate in manufacturing was 73 per cent in July, which is just short of 4 percentage points lower than the year before. In the pulp and paper industry, capacity utilisation rate was nearly 92 per cent, in the metal industry almost 72 per cent and in the chemical industry 67 per cent.
In the January to July period, output was up by 5.3 per cent compared to last year's corresponding period. Output in the metal industry increased by 13.5 per cent, thanks to the electrical industry, where output rose by almost 40 per cent. Against this, output in the wood and paper industry fell by 0.4 per cent. Output in the chemical industry was down by 0.1 per cent and in other manufacturing by good one per cent compared to the January to July period last year.
By international comparison, the 3.2 per cent growth rate in Finnish industrial output (seasonally adjusted) was quite fast. In July, output in the United States grew by 3.6 per cent and in Japan by 0.1 per cent from the previous year. In contrast, output fell by 1.7 per cent in Germany and by 0.7 per cent in the UK compared to July 1998. (Source: OECD, seasonally adjusted series).
Source: Volume Index of Industrial Output 1999, July. Statistics Finland