The results presented in this release reflect contract manufacturing activity and outsourcing in the Irish industrial economy. This release is prepared in compliance with the requirement of EU Regulation 1165/98, as amended, and the standards set out in the UN 2010 International Recommendations for the Index of Industrial Production. These standards set out that outsourced production is included as part of an enterprise’s Irish production.
The scale of contract manufacturing and outsourcing in the Irish industrial economy has increased since 2015, meaning that very high levels of short-term, i.e. monthly, volatility may be present in the indices presented in this release.
With this in mind, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) recommends that analysts take a longer-term view of the indices. Accordingly, much of the commentary presented by the CSO in the release will refer to rolling quarterly time periods.
From February 2024 to April 2024, production in manufacturing industries decreased by 17.5% when compared with the previous three-month period.
On a monthly basis, production in manufacturing industries fell by 5.7% in April 2024.
When compared with the same three-month period in 2023, production in manufacturing industries was 12.7% lower in the three months from February 2024 to April 2024.
In the three-month period from February 2024 to April 2024, the Modern sector experienced an annual decline of 16.6% in production when compared with the same three-month period in 2023. In contrast, annual production in the Traditional sector grew by 13.1% during the same period.
From February to April 2024, turnover in manufacturing industries was down by 7.1% when compared with the previous three-month period.
In line with best practice, the CSO has been conducting a review of the seasonal adjustment methodology used in this monthly Industrial Production and Turnover series. This review is due to be finalised shortly and, in the meantime, the CSO will continue to implement the direct method of seasonal adjustment.
The headline table shows the seasonally adjusted and unadjusted Production and Turnover indices for Manufacturing industries. It also highlights the monthly and annual percentage changes for these indices, as well as percentage changes for the current compared with the previous quarter.
| Manufacturing Industries - Seasonally Adjusted and Unadjusted Indices | (Base Year 2015 = 100) | ||||
| Seasonally Adjusted | Unadjusted | ||||
| Production Index | Turnover Index | Production Index | Turnover Index | ||
| April 2023 | 180.6 | 146.5 | 182.2 | 150.4 | |
| March 2024 | 163.8 | 144.9 | 140.4 | 126.2 | |
| April 2024 | 154.4 | 140.6 | 152.7 | 143.4 | |
| Monthly % change | -5.7% | -3.0% | 8.8% | 13.6% | |
| Annual % change | -14.5% | -4.1% | -16.2% | -4.7% | |
| November 2023 - January 2024 | 185.8 | 148.5 | 185.8 | 144.2 | |
| February 2024 - April 2024 | 153.2 | 137.9 | 134.4 | 128.9 | |
| % change | -17.5% | -7.1% | -27.7% | -10.6% | |
Figure 1 and Table 2 show the seasonally adjusted indices for the Modern and Traditional sectors.
Tables 1 & 1a relate to the seasonally adjusted and unadjusted indices for Industrial sectors.
Figure 2 and Table 3b show the seasonally adjusted percentage changes in Manufacturing Industries for a rolling three-month provisional average.
Table 3a relates to provisional results for April and Table 3c relates to final results for March.
| Production | Turnover | |
| Manufacturing Industries (10-33) | -17.5 | -7.1 |
| Food Products (10) | 5.7 | -3.1 |
| Meat & Meat Products (101) | 1.5 | 1.4 |
| Dairy Products (105) | -3.7 | -4.8 |
| Bakery & Farinaceous Products (107) | -0.6 | -1.3 |
| Grain Mill & Starch Products; Prepared Animal Feeds (106,109) | -0.8 | -3.6 |
| Other Food Products (102-104,108) | 4 | -0.6 |
| Textiles, Wearing Apparel & Leather Related Products (13-15) | -5 | 2.6 |
| Wood & Wood Products, except Furniture (16) | 9.2 | 4.8 |
| Paper & Paper Products; Printing & Reproduction of Recorded Media (17-18) | -11.4 | -1.9 |
| Rubber & Plastic Products (22) | -5.7 | -5.2 |
| Other Non-Metallic Mineral Products (23) | -3.7 | -3.4 |
| Basic Metals & Fabricated Metal Products (24-25) | 12.6 | 13.3 |
| Electrical Equipment (27) | 4.3 | 1.1 |
| Transport Equipment (29-30) | 13.9 | 9.8 |
| Tobacco, Leather, Coke & Refined Petroleum Products, Transport Equipment, Furniture, Repair & Installation of Machinery & Equipment (12,15,19,29-31,33) | -5.4 | -1.3 |
Tables 4 & 4a show the seasonally adjusted and unadjusted Turnover indices for Industrial sectors.
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (10 June 2024) released the Industrial Production and Turnover Index for April 2024.
Commenting on the release, Colin Cotter, Statistician in the Enterprise Statistics Division, said: "Production in manufacturing industries decreased by 17.5% from February to April 2024 when compared with the previous three-month period, driven by differences in performance between the highly globalised Modern sector and the Traditional sector (See Headline Table, Table 1, and Table 3b).
Monthly production in manufacturing industries fell by 5.7% between March 2024 and April 2024. On an annual basis, production in this sector was 12.7% lower in the three months from February to April 2024 when compared with the same period in 2023 (See Table 1 and Table 3b). 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.
The highly globalised Modern sector, which includes the Chemical, Pharmaceutical and Computer & Electronic sectors, experienced a decline of 16.6% in industrial production between February and April 2024, when compared with the same period in 2023. In contrast, the Traditional sector experienced an increase of 13.1% from February to April 2024, compared with the same period in 2023 (See Table 2 and Table 3b).
From February to April 2024, turnover in manufacturing industries was down by 7.1% when compared with the previous three-month period (See Headline Table, Table 4, and Table 3b).
In general, it should be noted that the results presented in this release reflect contract manufacturing activity in the multinational sectors."