Manufacturing enterprises have invested less than half of what they invested last year, official statistics show.

A survey carried out in this year's third quarter by the National Statistics Office among 389 manufacturing firms shows that investment fell by 54.2 per cent to €15 million, with all the major sectors investing less.

Turnover for the businesses sampled went down by 11.6 per cent to €502.3 million when compared to 2008, with marked declines in the communication equipment, chemical products, food and beverages, and rubber and plastic products sectors.

Employment fell by 5.6 per cent to 16,268 employees, with a considerable drop of 585 employees in the communication equipment manufacturing sector that includes the semiconductor producer ST Microelectronics.

Higher turnovers were seen in the electrical machinery and the other transport equipment sectors, where revenue went up by €25.6 million and €7.8 million respectively.

An increase of 316 employees was registered in the transport equipment sector.

In the third quarter of 2009, €67.5 million were paid out in gross wages and salaries. This represented a drop of €2.8 million or four per cent from the corresponding period in 2008 and was mainly due to the decline in employment at the sampled enterprises.