15 November, 1999
Inquiries: Mr Rami Peltola +358 9 1734 3615, Mr Kari
Rautio +358 9 1734 2479
Director in charge: Mr Ilkka Hyppönen
Industrial output up by 5.2 per cent in September
According to Statistics Finland, industrial output as calculated per working day grew by 5.2 per cent in the year to September. In August, the corresponding figure stood at 2 per cent. The growth was mainly boosted by the paper industry, where output went up by 8 per cent in September, after good twelve months of weak development. In the twelve months to September, output in the chemical industry increased by 6.5 per cent and in the electronics industry by just under 10 per cent.
Capacity utilisation rate in manufacturing was nearly 88 per cent in September, which is 2 percentage points lower than the year before. In the pulp and paper industry, capacity utilisation rate was 95 per cent, in the metal industry 87 per cent and in the chemical industry 81 per cent.
In the January to September period, industrial output was up by 4.9 per cent compared to last year's corresponding period. Output in the metal industry increased by good 11 per cent, thanks to the electronics industry, where output rose by nearly 32 per cent. Output in the chemical industry went up by just over one per cent, whereas in the wood and paper industry, output remained nearly unchanged. In other manufacturing, output stayed one per cent below the previous year's figure.
In the year to September, Finnish industrial output grew by good 5 per cent (seasonally adjusted). According to the OECD's seasonally adjusted series, output in the United States was up by 2.4 per cent and in Japan by 2.8 per cent. According to the Office for National Statistics, seasonally adjusted industrial output in the UK grew by just under one percent, whereas according to Federal Statistical Office Germany, industrial output in Germany remained one per cent below the September 1998 figure.
Source: Volume Index of Industrial Output 1999, September. Statistics Finland