Industrial output grew by 7.5 per cent last year

According to the index per working day of Statistics Finland, industrial output grew by 7.5 per cent from 1994 to 1995. During the first half of the year output increased by almost 10 per cent on the year before, but slowed down to 5 per cent in the second half.

The growth in industrial output was stunted by the forest industry in particular, where output increased by only just under one per cent last year compared with 1994. Output in the forest industry increased until September last year, whereafter there was a clear slowdown in the last quarter of the year. Due to the slackened demand, paper mills had production stoppages towards the end of the year. Furthermore, the sustained recession in the construction industry caused stoppages at sawmills.

During the latter part of the year the growth in output was sustained by the strong pull in the metal industry. Output in the metal industry grew by one fifth last year. The manufacture of electrical products increased by 28 per cent, and that of machinery and equipment by nearly a quarter.

In the other industries, output grew merely by just under 2 per cent from 1994 to 1995.

Industrial output grew by 5 per cent in December

Industrial output was 5 per cent higher in December than in December 1994 according to Statistics Finland's index per working day.

Output in the metal industry grew by just over one fifth in December, while in November the rise was a good 16 per cent on the year before. The manufacture of electrical products increased by one third and that of machinery and equipment by a good one quarter.

In the wood and paper industry output fell by 17 per cent in December, while in November the output decreased by 8 per cent. The manufacture of pulp, paper and paper products fell by about as much as one fifth, while in November the fall was 8 per cent. In the mechanical wood industry output decreased by nearly 10 per cent.

The capacity utilisation rate of manufacturing was about 79 per cent in December, which is 5 percentage points less than in December of the year before. In the metal industry, the utilisation rate was almost 88 per cent, whereas in the paper industry merely a good 77 per cent , i.e. 14 percentage points less than the year before.

Source: Volume Index of Industrial Output, December 1995
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