Hungary's industrial output increased by 8.1% y/y in February 2014, acceleration from a 6.1% y/y growth in the previous month, the statistics office said on April 14 confirming the preliminary figures published a week earlier. The manufacturing of transport equipment remained the key driving force.

In workday-adjusted terms, production grew by 8.1% y/y as well. Production adjusted for seasonal effects advanced by 1.6% m/m in February.

In unadjusted terms, industrial export sales grew by 11.4% y/y in the month, mainly supported by a 26.5% y/y growth in transport equipment exports, which represented nearly a third of the manufacturing sales abroad. By contrast, the computer, electronic and optical products sector, which accounted for a seventh of manufacturing exports, declined by 6.2% y/y.

Industrial domestic sales edged down by 0.5% y/y in February, softening from a 5.5% y/y drop in January.

Overall, the output of the manufacturing sector increased by 9.7% y/y in February, the mining and quarrying expanded by 7.1% y/y, while the energy sector registered a 7.6% y/y drop.

New manufacturing orders grew by 17.3% y/y in February, pushed up by a 16.8% y/y rise in the volume of new export orders and a 20.6% y/y increase in domestic orders. The total stock of orders was up 13.3% y/y at end-February.

Hungary's industrial output increased by 1.4% y/y 2013, recovering from a 1.8% y/y drop in 2012. The improvement was exclusively due to a 4.9% y/y rise in export sales, which more than offset a 1.8% y/y drop in sales on the domestic market.