The decrease in industry deepened in January
According to Statistics Estonia, in January 2009 compared to January of the previous year, the production of industrial enterprises decreased 27%.
The decrease in industrial production, which had begun in March 2008, deepened in January. When from March to October 2008 the decrease in the production was around 5%, in October-November the decrease was about 15% compared to the previous month, then in December the production decreased 22%.
In January, the production in manufacturing fell 29% compared to January of the previous year. The main reason causing the decline in the production was the insufficient market demand both in domestic and external markets. The decrease in the production of manufacturing was mainly influenced by the production of branches holding the largest share, such as food, wood and metal products. The decrease in the production of food, which is an internal market oriented branch, was the smallest — 7%. The decline in the production of food was slightly retarded by the stop of increasing of producer prices. The largest fall — 44% was in the production of building materials, which is directly connected with the decline in the domestic construction market. The production decreased 40% in the manufacture of metal products mainly due to the decrease of export orders. 35% decline occurred in the production of chemical products and wood. At the same time the production of branches holding the smallest share — manufacture of paper and manufacture of motor vehicles decreased even 55–60%.
In January the production increased only in the manufacture of pharmaceutical products (8%).
In January compared to January of the previous year, the production of electricity decreased 10%, the production of heat — 9%.
In January compared to December, the seasonally adjusted industrial production decreased 5%.
The volume index and trend of production in manufacturing, January 2000 – January 2009
(2005 = 100)
Change in volume index of industrial production, January 2009
(percentage)
| Economic activity | Change compared to previous month according to seasonally adjusted dataa | Change compared to corresponding month of previous year | |
| according to unadjusted data | according to working-day adjusted datab | ||
| TOTAL | -4.5 | -28.9 | -26.8 |
| Energy production | 0.9 | -8.4 | -8.4 |
| Mining | 0.4 | -16.7 | -14.8 |
| Manufacturing | -5.6 | -31.3 | -29.3 |
| manufacture of food products | 1.4 | -9.1 | -7.3 |
| manufacture of wood and wood products | 1.8 | -36.8 | -35.0 |
| manufacture of fabricated metal products | -11.9 | -42.3 | -40.0 |
| manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products | -5.2 | -10.5 | -8.7 |
| manufacture of electrical equipment | 7.9 | -11.3 | -8.1 |
| manufacture of chemicals and chemical products | 5.7 | -40.0 | -37.9 |
| manufacture of furniture | -8.0 | -21.3 | -18.7 |
| repair and installation of machinery and equipment | -7.9 | -23.0 | -21.0 |
| manufacture of building materials | -2.4 | -45.1 | -43.8 |
| manufacture of textiles | -2.6 | -31.5 | -28.1 |
a In case of the seasonally adjusted volume index, the impact of the differing numbers of working days in a month and seasonally recurring factors has been eliminated. It is calculated only in comparison with the previous period.
b In case of the working-day adjusted volume index, the impact of the differing number of working days in a month has been eliminated. It is calculated only in comparison with the corresponding period of the previous year.