Slovakia's industrial output growth eased to 6.8% y/y in October 2013 from a revised 7.4% y/y in September on the back of expanding manufacturing sector, data from the country's statistics office showed.
Manufacturing production grew by 9% y/y in October, slowing down from a revised hike of 9.8% a month earlier when it registered its strongest growth since Nov 2012. Production increased the most in electrical equipment (+63.3%), textiles and apparel (+21.6%) and basic metals and fabricated metal products (+18.2%).
The output of the industry’s main growth driver – the car manufacturing sector – increased by 7.7% y/y in October following a 3.5% annual growth in the previous month. Auto manufacturing is the major driving force of the Slovak economy, with the country being home to three big car assembling plants run by Germany's Volkswagen, South Korea's Kia Motors and France's PSA Peugeot Citroen.
The second most important engine of the Slovak industry, electronics production at plants run by South Korea's Samsung and Taiwan's Foxconn, posted a 1.0% y/y fall in output in October after declining by a revised 3.2% y/y in September.
The growth in Slovak manufacturing sector was partly offset by a 7.2% y/y drop in the utilities output in October, following a revised 8.9% annual fall in September. The mining industry’s output fell by 2.6% y/y in October after decreasing by 0.6% y/y in the previous month.
On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, Slovakia's industrial output rose 0.4% in October, following a 1% growth in September.
For the first ten months of the year, the industrial production increased by 3.8% y/y.
| y/y change | Oct 2013 | Sep 2013 | Oct 2012 | Jan-Oct 2013 | 2012 |
| INDUSTRIAL OUTPUT | 6.8% | 7.4% | 8.7% | 3.8% | 8.0% |
| Mining | -2.6% | -0.6% | 3.0% | -2.3% | -3.2% |
| Manufacturing | 9.0% | 9.8% | 9.4% | 4.8% | 11.5% |
| --food, beverages and tobacco | 1.5% | -6.8% | -2.5% | -0.1% | -1.1% |
| --textiles, apparel, leather and related products | 21.6% | 31.9% | 25.3% | 25.7% | 17.9% |
| --wood and paper products, printing | -1.5% | -2.4% | 6.2% | -0.3% | -2.2% |
| --coke and refined petroleum products | -23.7% | -2.5% | 0.2% | -3.1% | -10.1% |
| --chemicals and chemical products | -13.6% | 14.3% | 7.3% | 3.4% | -4.3% |
| --pharmaceuticals, medicinal chemical and botanical products | -53.3% | -36.1% | 13.3% | -43.4% | -11.0% |
| --rubber, plastics and other non-metallic mineral products | 11.7% | 12.2% | 2.1% | 4.4% | 1.9% |
| --basic and fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment | 18.2% | 23.2% | -1.9% | 7.2% | 6.1% |
| --computers, electronics and optics | -1.0% | -3.2% | 18.8% | -2.6% | 17.0% |
| --electrical equipment | 63.6% | 59.0% | 9.3% | 36.8% | 10.7% |
| --machinery and equipment | 2.5% | 5.0% | 10.9% | 2.5% | 12.9% |
| --transport equipment | 7.7% | 3.5% | 20.7% | 4.6% | 26.1% |
| --other manufacturing, repair and installation of machinery and equipment | 16.9% | 35.6% | -5.6% | -2.0% | 9.7% |
| Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply | -7.2% | -8.9% | 5.0% | -2.2% | -9.4% |
| Source: Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic |
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