Sweden: Industrial activity contracts at sharpest pace on record in April
Industrial production dropped 16.4% month-on-month in seasonally-adjusted terms in April (March: -0.1% month-on-month). April’s reading marked the steepest drop since current records began in 2000 and was due to a sharp fall in manufacturing output, coupled with a more modest fall in mining production.
On an annual basis, factory output fell 16.6% in April (March: +0.7% year-on-year). The print marked the worst result since August 2009. Meanwhile, the trend pointed down, with the annual average variation of industrial production coming in at minus 0.9%, contrasting March’s plus 0.8%.