Industrial output down 3.2 percent, automotive and electrical output up in October

In October 2023 the volume of industrial production decreased by 3.2% compared to the same period of the previous year. (Compared to the October figure published in the first estimate, the datum in the second estimate was unchanged.)

The volume of industrial export was 1.8% lower than a year earlier. Transport equipment, representing 33% of manufacturing export sales, grew by 3.6% and exports of the manufacture of electrical equipment, with a 15% weight, by 3.0%.

Domestic sales of industry fell by 8.7%, however, those of manufacturing increased by 0.9% compared to the same month of the previous year.

Within industry, manufacturing, in industry, declined by 2.0%, that of mining and quarrying, with a small weight, by 29%, production in energy industry (electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply) by 23%.

The manufacture of transport equipment, having the largest weight, representing 27% of manufacturing output, increased by 4.9% compared to the same month of the previous year. The manufacture of motor vehicles grew by 11.6%, the manufacture of parts and accessories for motor vehicles by 0.9%.

The manufacture of electrical equipment, having a 12% weight in manufacturing, was 9.0% higher than one year earlier. Out of the two groups with the most significant weight, the volume of the manufacture of batteries and accumulators became 38% larger and that of the manufacture of electric motors, generators, transformers and electricity distribution and control apparatus 30% smaller.

The manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products, accounting for 9% within manufacturing, fell the most among the subsections, by 17.8% compared to the same month of the previous year. Out of the two largest groups, the manufacture of electronic components and boards decreased by 4.9%, the manufacture of consumer electronics dropped by 24%.

The manufacture of food products, beverages and tobacco products, having a 13% share in manufacturing, declined by 2.8% year-on-year, domestic sales rose, while export decreased. Output grew in only three groups, at the highest rate, by 30% in the manufacture of vegetable and animal oils and fats. The processing and preserving of meat and the production of meat products, representing the largest weight (of 22%), dropped by 6.6% compared to the same month of the previous year. Production decreased between 0.9% and 24% in the other seven groups, the least in the processing and preserving of fruit and vegetables, and the most in small-weight processing and preserving of fish, crustaceans and molluscs.

The manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products grew by 12.0%, due to increases in both domestic and export sales.

Out of the two medium-weight subsections, the manufacture of rubber and plastic products and other non-metallic mineral products fell by 15.4%, the manufacture of basic metals and fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment, declined by 4.6% compared to the same month of the previous year.

Contrary to the growth in the previous month, the manufacture of machinery and equipment n.e.c., with a 5% weight in manufacturing dropped by 9.8% year-on-year, decreases in the great majority of the classes.

Industrial production grew in Pest Region (by 8.6%), Southern Great Plain (by 5.3%) and Southern Transdanubia (by 5.1%). In the other regions, volume decreases of between 3.0% and 12.5% were recorded, with the highest one in Northern Hungary.

The volume of all new orders in the observed divisions of manufacturing was 7.1% lower than in October 2022. New domestic orders declined by 2.5% and new export orders by 7.9%. The total stock of orders at the end of October was below the previous year’s level by 5.0 %.

In January–October 2023 compared to the same period of the previous year industrial production decreased by 4.7%. The volume of export sales, representing 60% of all sales declined by 2.1%, domestic sales accounting for 40% of all sales fell by 15.7%.

Out of the thirteen subsections of manufacturing, production decreased in ten, to the highest extent, by 19.7% in the manufacture of chemicals and chemical products. The volume was up at rates of between 6.4% and 15.5% in the other three, mostly in the manufacture of electrical equipment, and output in the manufacture of transport equipment, the largest subsection, grew by 11.2%.