Industrial production up only 0.4% in August

• 10 out of 20 industry groups have shown positive growths in volume of production

The Index of Industrial Production has increased by 0.4% in August compared to a year earlier, Department of Census and Statistics (DCS) revealed yesterday.

IIP reported for the month of August 2018 and 2017 were 109.4 and 109.0 respectively.

The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) for the month of August 2018 has been released by the Department of Census and Statistics. 

In a communiqué DCS Director General I.R. Bandara said the IIP is an index which details out the growth of sub sectors of the industry sector in a given period of time. It reveals short-term changes of volume of production of the industrial sector. 

The Department of Census and Statistics compiles number of economic indicators including IIP. 

Government as well as industries use these indicators to understand the trends and patterns in Sri Lankan economy, identify the drivers of economic growth, evaluate economic performance and for the formulation and assessment of economic policies. 

In terms of manufacturing industries 10 out of 20 industry groups have shown positive growths in volume of production. The industry groups: ‘Beverages’, ‘Manufacture of textiles’ and ‘Manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products’ have shown remarkable increases of 17.5%, 10.5% and 9.3% respectively in their volume of production during the month of August 2018 compared to that of August 2017. The volume of food products has decreased by 0.5%.

Among the 10 industries recorded negative growths in volume of production of manufacturing industries: ‘Manufacture of electrical equipment’, ‘Manufacture of paper and paper products’ ‘Manufacture of tobacco products’ have reported negative growth rates of 28.4%, 25.5% and 24.6% respectively.