The Slovak industry recovered after a month, manufacture of motor vehicles rose the most significantly

The important sector of the Slovak economy, industry, returned to positive numbers after a significant slump in March. Growth was mainly supported by revived production of motor vehicles and by an increase in energy-related production. However, as many as 11 out of 15 industrial sectors reported a higher year-on-year performance.

Download high resolution chart format PDF (109 kB) or PNG (306 kB).

In April 2024, the industrial production of the SR increased by 6.3% year-on-year. After a significant slump in March, the industry thus returned to higher performance, which had persisted since August of last year (after recalculation due to the adjustment of the methodology)¹⁾. In total, 11 of the 15 monitored sectors²⁾ recorded a higher performance year-on-year, among them the majority of the main sectors of the Slovak industry.

The most significant impact on industrial production in the fourth month of this year was a significant growth in manufacture of transport equipment by 15.9%. 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 effect of plus 3.78 percentage points (p.p.) to the sector´s result. The manufacture of motor vehicles showed a growth for the first time this year. While it dropped by almost 15% in March, in April it contributed the most to the growth of industrial production thanks to a double-digit growth.

The continued year-on-year significantly higher performance in energy, i.e. in electricity, gas, steam and air-conditioning supply, positively affected the entire industry. In April, the industry showed a growth by 32.9% (contribution +2.48 p.p.). The manufacture of electrical equipment (contribution +1.25 p.p., growth by 23.5%) and manufacture of food (contribution +1.04 p.p., growth by 21.4%) also showed higher production by higher than a fifth than a year ago. After almost two years, manufacture of rubber and plastic products also reached positive numbers, rising by 4.4% year-on-year (contribution +0.42 p.p.).

Download high resolution chart format PDF (112 kB) or PNG (356 kB).

The industry was the most affected by an almost 11% decrease in performance in manufacture of metals (contribution -2.18 p.p.) Furthermore, a significant drop in mining and quarrying continued, where production decreased by up to 39.3% (contribution -0.69 p.p.), mainly due to the closure of mines. The total production was also affected by a decrease by 7.3% in manufacture of machinery and equipment (contribution -0.67 p.p.). 

On a month-on-month basis (compared to March 2024), after seasonal adjustment, industrial production increased by 3.4%.

In April, this increase in production once again raised the industry into slightly positive numbers even in the cumulative balance since the beginning of the year. In total, from January to April, industrial production increased year-on-year by 0.5%. 5 out of a total of 15 monitored sectors (special industrial groupings)³⁾ had a higher performance than in the same period last year. The most significant result was influenced by more than a quarter (27.4%) growth in electricity and gas supply (contribution +2.50 p.p.) and an increase of more than 15% in manufacture of electrical equipment (contribution +0.82 p.p.). Industry was slowed down mainly by manufacture of transport equipment, which recorded a year-on-year decrease of 2.7% in the first four months of 2024 (contribution -0.67%) and also a 40% lower performance in mining (contribution -0.63 p.p.) caused by a decline in mining.