The industry also increased in August, but only at a minimal pace

Mostly the energy sector remained the driving force of the Slovak industry for the third month, other smaller industrial sectors also contributed to the production growth in August. However, the development remained fluctuating and several industrial sectors continued to be in a year-on-year lower condition - the most significant slowdown was observed in engineering production and in manufacture of rubber and plastic.

In August 2024, industrial production¹⁾ of the SR increased by 0.9%. It was the fourth month this year that the industry increased its output year-on-year. The development in the individual structures of industry, however, continued to fluctuate, of the 15 monitored sectors²⁾, 8 achieved a year-on-year higher performance.

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The most significant impact on industrial production was a significantly higher year-on-year performance in the energy sector, i.e. in the supply of electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning by more than 16%. The contribution³⁾ is an indicator that takes into account the rate of growth/decline in combination with the weight of the sector in the structure of the industry and hierarchizes the influences of individual sectors on the entire sector, this was an impact of plus 1.43 percentage points (p.p.) on the sector´s result. The energy sector, with a double-digit growth for three consecutive months, continues to significantly maintain the industry in positive values.

In second and third place in terms of impact on the industry was the long-standing slowdown in engineering production, currently in August by 11.6% (contribution -0.98 p.p.) and also by almost 7% lower performance in manufacture of rubber and plastic (contribution -0.71 p.p.).

In the ranking of the influences on the August´s performance of the industry, industrial sectors with a year-on-year higher performance alternated in other places as well, which were negated by industrial sectors with a declining performance. The positive development was due to a high growth by almost 18% in other manufacture and repair of machines (contribution +0.64 p.p.), as well as an over 8% increase in food production (contribution +0.47 p.p.).

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Key sectors of the Slovak industry, such as manufacture of transport equipment and metal production, had a weaker August than a year ago, but only slightly, so their impact on the overall production of the month was negligible.

On a month-on-month basis (compared to July 2024), after seasonal adjustment, industrial production increased by 1.5%.

In the first eight months of this year, industrial production dropped by 1.4% year-on-year. 9 out of a total of 15 monitored sectors (special industrial groups)²⁾ had a lower performance than in the corresponding period last year. Of the industrial sectors that contributed the most to the overall decline in production, the most significant decrease was in manufacture of machinery n.e.c. by almost 11% (contribution -0.95 p.p.) and a decrease by almost 5% in metal production (contribution -0.86 p.p.). A higher slump was prevented by more than 8% cumulative growth in manufacture of electrical equipment (contribution +0.45 p.p.) and by an almost 9% increase in food production (contribution +0.45 p.p.). The key manufacture of transport equipment had an identical performance as in the eight months of 2023.