The industry sector ends 2011 with a decline

After registering annual growth throughout 2011, the industry sector reported the first decline in December. According to National Statistical Institute (NSI) data, during the last month of the year, industrial output dropped by 0.6%, compared to a year earlier. The deterioration of the indicator, according to experts, is mainly due to the 20.4% decline in the extracting industry, and the 3% decrease in the processing industry. On an annual basis, a drop was also registered in the production of investment goods (9.9%), while growth was reported in the output of energy products (1.9%) and intermediate goods (1.2%). The price index in industry fell by 1.3%, compared to November. The processing industry decreased by 13.8% in December, compared to the previous month, while the output of the extracting industry rose by 17.3%. A considerable decline in the processing industry was reported by the pulp and paper sub-branch (31.6%) and the sector of metal products and basic metals.

The most significant annual decline was registered in the construction sector, which ended 2011 with an annual drop of 11.1% and a decrease of 1.1%, compared to November. The year-on-year decline in the construction output was mainly due to the decrease in civil engineering where the decline was 16.6%, while the decline in the construction of buildings was 8.8%.

Retail trade also remained below the level of December 2010. At the end of last year, the sector registered a 2.4% year-on-year decrease. However, retail trade is the only sector reporting a slight increase of 0.3%, compared to November. A year-on-year increase in the turnover was registered in December 2011 in the retail trade in pharmaceutical and medical goods - by 10.1% and the sales of foods, beverages and tobacco - by 0.6%.