NSO survey shows shrinkage in manufacturing industry

A sample survey among manufacturing enterprises carried out by the NSO in the fourth quarter of last year showed a 13% slide in sales. Investment and jobs were also down.

The NSO said sales by the sampled manufacturing enterprises stood at €513.5 million, a decrease of 12.8 per cent when compared to the corresponding period in 2007. The decrease was mainly due to lower sales by the Radio, TV and Communication Equipment and the Chemicals and Chemical Products sectors. Lower sales were also registered by the Publishing and Printing, the Rubber and Plastic Products and the Furniture and Manufacturing sectors.

Higher sales were registered by the Electrical Machinery and Apparatus and the Other Non-metallic Mineral Products sectors.

Export-oriented enterprises generated €394.6 million or 76.8 per cent of the surveyed sales for this period.

At the end of December 2008, employment in the sampled enterprises stood at 17,094, a decrease of 590 over the previous year. The decrease was mostly in the Radio, TV and Communication Equipment sector, with a drop of 284 employees.

Investment in the sampled enterprises amounted to €32.0 million, a decrease of €5.7 million over the comparative period in 2007.

The NSO said last week that GDP in the last quarter of 2008 shrank by 1.2%.