Manufacturing production fell almost 8 per cent in the three months to January 2024, new figures from the Central Statistics Office show.
The decline was driven by a fall-off in the highly globalised modern sector, which includes chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and computers and electronics. It saw production decline 14.4 per cent year-on-year, while the traditional sector grew almost 12 per cent.
The latter includes all industrial activities apart from the modern sector, such as mining and quarrying, the majority of manufacturing outside of modern sectors, and electricity generation and distribution.
Turnover in manufacturing industries was 12.1 per cent higher year on year.
On a quarterly basis, production rose 29 per cent between November, 2023 to January, 2024, compared with the preceding three-month period, driven by differences in performance between the highly globalised modern sector and the traditional sector.
The figures reflect contract manufacturing activity and outsourcing in the Irish industrial economy, which can vary month to month as the scale of the business in the Irish economy has increased.
The latest data showed production in manufacturing industries fell by 46.5 per cent in January, following a large increase in the previous month.
“The CSO recommends that analysts take a longer-term view of the indices because of the variability that can occur within the given months of a quarter. In particular, company results may be subject to year end adjustments and data provided at year end may be subject to a higher degree of volatility than in other months,” statistician Colin Cotter said.
- Sign up for Business push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Find The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Our Inside Business podcast is published weekly – Find the latest episode here
