Industrial production of wearing apparel drops in 2006

15 Mar '07

3 min read

According to the provisional results of a survey released by the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD), the index of industrial production for the manufacturing sector as a whole decreased by 1.4% in the fourth quarter of 2006 from a year earlier, following a 0.6% year-on-year decrease in the third quarter of 2006.

The corresponding producer price index increased by 2.0% in the fourth quarter of 2006 over a year earlier, as compared with a 2.6% year-on-year increase in the third quarter of 2006.

Indices of industrial production reflect changes in the volume of local manufacturing output after discounting the effect of price changes. The price changes are measured by the producer price indices for manufacturing industries compiled from data on producer prices of industrial goods/services collected from the same survey.

Comparing the fourth quarter of 2006 with a year earlier, the wearing apparel (except footwear) industry had the largest decrease in output (-33.8%), followed by the textiles (including knitting) industry (-12.2%), and machinery industry (-9.6%).

On the other hand, increases in output were recorded for chemical industry (+13.8%) in the fourth quarter of 2006 over a year earlier.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the index of industrial production for the manufacturing sector as a whole increased by 1.2% in the fourth quarter of 2006 over the third quarter of 2006.

For 2006 as a whole, the index of industrial production for the manufacturing sector increased by 2.2% compared with 2005.

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