Belgium: Industrial output grows at quickest pace since March in September

Industrial output grew 0.8% year on year in calendar-adjusted terms in September, which contrasted August's 7.3% decrease. The figure marked the best reading since March. The reading reflected a broad-based upturn, with activity in the manufacturing, energy and mining and quarrying sub-sectors all improving in September.

On a monthly basis, industrial production rose 7.1% in seasonally adjusted terms in September, contrasting August’s 3.4% fall and marking the best result since June 2021. Meanwhile, annual average industrial production growth fell to 1.9% in September (August: +3.2%), which marked an over one-year low.

FocusEconomics Consensus Forecast panelists expect industrial output to fall by 1.2% in 2023, which is up 0.2 percentage points from last month’s forecast, and expand by 2.3% in 2024.