Bulgaria's industrial production increased 4.2% y/y in July, improving from a revised 3.3% y/y rise in June, supported by rising performance in the manufacturing sector, working-day adjusted statistics office data showed on September 8. On a seasonally-adjusted monthly comparison basis, output inched up 0.2% in July, reversing a revised 1.7% m/m fall in June.

According to GDP data, industry grew by a real 2.8% in 2016. The sector accounted for 23.8% of the gross value added generated by the Bulgarian economy last year. The latest available unadjusted GDP data showed that industry went up 3.1% y/y in the second quarter of 2017.

Manufacturing production grew 6.3% y/y in July, after rising by a revised 4.7% y/y the month before. Within manufacturing, the highest y/y increases were reported in basic metals (+37.7%) and repair and installation of machinery and equipment (+24.6%). The deepest y/y declines were in the manufacturing of tobacco products (-26.4%) and shoes (-15.7%).

Mining production decreased 0.8% y/y in July, swinging from a revised 7.8% y/y rise in June. Output went up y/y in the mining of coal and lignite (+7.2%), but dropped in metal ores (-2.5%) and other mining and quarrying (-17.9%). In the mining production index there are two more groups – extraction of crude petroleum and natural gas, as well as mining support service activities – but the statistics office did not disclose their performance for confidentiality reasons.

The y/y decrease in the output of utilities narrowed to 1.4% in July from a revised 4.5% in June.