Manufacturing activity was 2.5 per cent higher in the third quarter as the economy rebounded strongly from the impact of lockdown restrictions.
Figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show factory production increased by 3.6 per cent in September.
The annual changes in the production and turnover indices for September have in general been impacted by base effects, the relatively lower level of the corresponding indices in September 2020, the CSO said. It noted that on an annual basis production in manufacturing industries was 46.9 per cent greater than in September 2020.
On an annual basis production in the “traditional” sector was 12.1 per cent greater in September 2021 than in September 2020, while the corresponding annual increase for the “modern” sector, which includes the State’s giant pharma sector, was 53.6 per cent .
Increased multinational exports, particularly from the pharma sector here, have been a feature of the pandemic and a counter-balance to the falloff in domestic activity last year.
