Slovak industry continues decreasing, it could not even be saved by the ongoing manufacture of motor vehicles

Industrial production recorded a year-on-year drop in February, but the pace of its decline slowed significantly. The significant manufacture of motor vehicles increased by 12% year-on-year, but even that did not save the domestic industry. The main block was the continued weaker manufacture of metals, machinery, electrical equipment, and also the decline in energy output.

In February 2025, industrial production in the SR¹⁾ decreased by 1.3% year-on-year. Industry had lower performance than a year ago and in the second month of this year, although the pace slowed down significantly. Dynamic growth in selected key industrial sectors continued to be hampered by significant declines in other important industrial structures. In total, 8 out of 15 monitored sectors²⁾ recorded a lower output year-on-year.

The most significant impact on industrial production in February this year was the 12% growth in the key manufacture of transport equipment. 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 +3.01 percentage points (p.p.) on the sector´s result. The double-digit year-on-year growth in manufacture of motor vehicles was maintained for the second consecutive month.

In second to fifth place in terms of overall importance were the sectors that hampered the Slovak industry. The second most significant impact on the result was the more than 14% drop in metal production (contribution -2.59 p. p.). The decline in metal production continued for the seventh consecutive month. A significant impact was also the more than 12% drop in manufacture of machinery and equipment (contribution -0.98 p. p.). and a more than 14% drop in manufacture of electrical equipment (contribution -0.90 p. p.).

The overall industrial production was also negatively affected by the more than 7% drop in electricity, gas, steam and air-conditioning supply (contribution -0.89 p. p.). The sector, which pulled the Slovak industry into positive values for almost the entire last year, showed a lower year-on-year performance for the second month of the year.

Month-on-month (compared to January 2025) after seasonal adjustment, industrial production increased by 5.2%.

In total, for the first two months of 2025, industrial production decreased by 3.2% year-on-year. 7 out of a total of 15 monitored sectors (special industrial groupings)²⁾ showed a lower performance than in the corresponding period last year. The most significant impact on the result was a more than 15% drop in metal production (contribution -2.78 p. p.). A more significant drop in the entire industry was prevented by an almost 12% growth in manufacture of transport equipment (contribution +2.77 p. p.). After ranking the cumulative impacts on the industry's result since the beginning of 2025, the next four places were occupied by sectors that dragged down the industry into negative numbers. Industrial performance was significantly slowed by an almost 13% decline in electricity, gas, steam and air-conditioning supply (contribution -1.68 p. p.), a 15.5% decline in manufacture of machinery and equipment (contribution -1.26 p. p.), but also a more than 12% decrease in manufacture of electrical equipment (contribution -0.77 p. p.).