Industrial production up 0.4% in May

Saturday, 13 July 2019 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Index of Industrial Production has increased by 0.4% in May 2019 compared to the same month in 2018, according to the Department of Census and Statistics.

IIP reported for the month of May 2019 and 2018 were 106.1 and 105.7 respectively.

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.

The 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 ‘Manufacture of electrical equipment,’ ‘Manufacture of paper and paper products’ and ‘Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products’ have shown remarkable increases of 19.8%, 17.0% and 16.9% respectively in their volume of production during the month of May 2019 compared to that of May 2018. The volume of food products has increased by 5.6% compared to the month of May 2018.

Among the 10 industries recorded negative growths in volume of production of manufacturing industries, ‘Manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products,’ ‘Other manufacturing’ (which includes manufacturing motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers, other transport equipment, jewellery) and ‘Manufacture of wood and products of wood’ have reported negative growth rates of 43.7%, 36.0% and 19.1% respectively.