15 February, 1999

Inquiries: Mr Ari Mikkelä + 358 9 1734 2479, Mr Rami Peltola +358 9 1734 3615
Director in charge: Mr Ilkka Hyppönen

Growth of industrial output came to a halt in December

According to Statistics Finland, growth of industrial output came to a halt at the end of last year. Industrial output as calculated per working day grew by just 0.1 per cent in the year to December. Growth of output was last this slow in April 1996. December output of pulp, paper and paper products was down by 15 per cent on the previous December, but the manufacture of electrical equipment was up by almost a third on December 1997.

In the year to December, the manufacture of transport equipment contracted by 5 per cent, while the manufacture of basic metals and fabricated metal products decreased by 4 per cent and that of machinery and equipment by 3 per cent. Both in the chemical and food industries output decreased by 8 per cent and in energy and water supply output contracted by one per cent in December.

December capacity utilisation rate in manufacturing was 82 per cent, which is just under 6 percentage points lower than in December 1997. December capacity utilisation rate was 77 per cent in the pulp and paper industry, 87 per cent in the metal industry and 76 per cent in the chemical industry.

Industrial output grew by nearly 8 per cent last year

On the whole, 1998 was a good year for Finnish industry, for industrial output as calculated per working day increased by 7.6 per cent from the previous year. The year-on-year growth was the third largest in the 1990s, exceeded only in 1994 and 1997. Industrial output grew exceptionally strongly in the January to May period.

In 1998, output in the metal industry increased by 17 per cent from the previous year. Growth was especially strong in the electrical industry where output went up by 38 per cent from the previous year. The manufacture of basic metals and metal products increased by 7 per cent and that of transport equipment by 5 per cent in the year to December 1998. The manufacture of machinery and equipment remained almost unchanged compared to the previous year.

The year-on-year increase in the output of the forest industry was 4 per cent. In the forest industry, output grew particularly in the January to May period, but petered out again towards the end of the year. The year-on-year growth of output amounted to 3 per cent in the chemical industry and 5 per cent in the construction materials industry. In energy and water supply, output grew by one per cent.

Without the growth in the output of the electrical industry, total industrial output would have grown by only 2 per cent in 1998 compared to 1997.

In comparison with the most important EU countries, the USA and Japan, the growth of industrial output has been very brisk in Finland. However, the comparison is hampered by the unavailability of December data for most of the countries. In the January to November period of 1998, industrial output as calculated by working day increased in the EU countries by an average of 4 per cent compared to the corresponding period last year. The respective figure for the member countries of the EMU was 4.5 per cent. In the January to November period, industrial output in Germany, France and Sweden grew by approximately 5 per cent compared to the same period in 1997. In the United States, the corresponding growth percentage was 4 per cent. In Japan, industrial output contracted in the 1998 January to November period by as much as 7 per cent compared to the same period in 1997.

Sources: Volume Index of Industrial Output 1998, December. Statistics Finland.
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