Czech Republic: Industrial output contracts at sharpest pace in over a decade in March on Covid-19 hit
Industrial production collapsed 10.8% year-on-year in working-day adjusted terms in March (February: -0.9% year-on-year), marking the tenth consecutive month of decline and the steepest contraction since July 2009.
The sharper downturn was primarily driven by a plunge in manufacturing output as car manufacturing plants shut down operations due to the Covid-19 crisis. In addition, the mining and quarrying sector contracted at a more pronounced rate than in February.
On a seasonally-adjusted monthly basis, industrial production fell at stronger pace of 8.7% in March (February: -0.3% month-on-month). The reading marked the worst result on record. Meanwhile, the trend pointed down, with the annual average variation of industrial production coming in at minus 1.6% in March, down from February’s minus 0.7%.