Hungary: Industrial output growth at over one-year high in March
Industrial output increased a working-day-adjusted 8.0% year-on-year in March, outpacing a 6.0% increase in February and marking the strongest result since October 2017. According to the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH), March’s reading was bolstered by a stronger expansion in manufacturing output—which makes up over nine-tenths of the index—and by another month of skyrocketing growth in the mining and quarrying sector. On the other hand, the energy sector contracted at a sharper rate. Within the all-important manufacturing sector, the manufacture of transport equipment, motor vehicles, and electrical equipment registered the fastest increases.
In month-on-month, seasonally- and working-day-adjusted terms, industrial production growth came in at 1.0%, matching February’s print. Lastly, annual average growth in industrial production rose to 4.4% from 3.9% in February.