Estonia: Industrial production contracts again in August

In August, industrial production decreased a working-day adjusted 2.7% over the same month last year, which was an improvement compared to the revised 6.7% fall tallied in July (previously reported: -5.9% year-on-year). The figure marked the smallest deterioration since July 2014. According to Statistics Estonia, August’s contraction was primarily the result of a decrease in the manufacturing of electronic products, chemicals and building materials.

A seasonally adjusted month-on-month assessment shows that industrial production increased 1.4% in August, which contrasted the 1.3% contraction recorded in July. The overall trend declined in August, with annual average growth in industrial production dropping from July’s 1.6% to 1.1% in August.

FocusEconomics Consensus Forecast panelists foresee industrial production growing 3.4% in 2015, which is unchanged from the previous month’s projection. In 2016, the panel expects industrial production to increase 3.8%.