Industrial output contracted by 1.9 per cent in February

According to Statistics Finland, output of total industries adjusted for working days was 1.9 per cent lower in February 2010 than twelve months earlier. In January output was 1.8 per cent higher than one year before.

Working day adjusted change in industrial output (BCDE) from corresponding month previous year, %, TOL 2008

Seasonally adjusted output continued to fall in February compared with the previous month. In February output contracted by 1.3 per cent from January. In January output fell by one per cent from December.

Seasonally adjusted change in industrial output (BCDE) from previous month, %, TOL 2008

In the forest industry output adjusted for working days was in February 17.3 per cent higher than one year before. Due to the cold February, production of electricity and heat grew by 8.2 per cent from February 2009. Output in the chemical industry continued to grow and in February it exceeded the previous year’s level by 8.1 per cent. The biggest fall occurred in the electrical and electronic industry, where output in February was 18.1 per cent lower than one year before. Output in the other metal industry also continued to decline. A fall of 6.4 per cent was recorded in February.

Working day adjusted change in industrial output by industry 2/2009-2/2010, %, TOL 2008

Capacity utilisation rate in manufacturing was 73.2 per cent in February. One year before it was 70.1 per cent. Capacity utilisation rate in the forest industry rose in February to 87.3 per cent, which was nearly 20 percentage points higher than one year before. Capacity utilisation rate in the chemical industry was 82.1 per cent. Capacity utilisation rate in the chemical industry rose by nearly five percentage points from one year previously.

Estimation

From this release onwards Statistics Finland has increased the use of estimation. In many months of the year estimation is used in industry 26-27 Electrical and electronics industry. The weight of this industry is nearly 20 per cent in total industries. In addition, the Tax Administration’s payment control data are used to compile statistics on the production of enterprises with fewer than 50 employees. Enterprises with fewer than 50 employees account for around 13 per cent of total industries and these data cover nearly 70 per cent of the production of enterprises with fewer than 50 employees. These data are not at Statistics Finland's disposal by the release date of the volume index of industrial output. For this reason the data on these enterprises are estimated for the month the release relates to. The payment control data will be available when releasing data for that month for the second time. An exception to this procedure is this year’s January. Due to the Tax Administration’s tax reform the quality of the data proved to be poor for statistical purposes and therefore January is also still estimated.

Revised data for January and February will be published at 9 am on 10 May 2010 in connection with the release of industrial output data for March. Because of the method used, seasonally adjusted figures for previous months may change even if the original figures do not become revised. The seasonally adjusted figures will also be adjusted for working days.

Source: Volume Index of Industrial Output 2010, February. Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Aki Savolainen (09) 1734 2703, Kari Rautio (09) 1734 2479, volyymi.indeksi@stat.fi

Director in charge: Hannele Orjala

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Industrial output contracted by 1.9 per cent in February (9.4.2010)

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Updated 09.04.2010

Referencing instructions:

Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Volume index of industrial output [e-publication].
ISSN=1798-9272. February 2010. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 20.12.2024].
Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/ttvi/2010/02/ttvi_2010_02_2010-04-09_tie_001_en.html