Malta: Consumer goods lift industrial production in January

The Index of Industrial Production decreased by 6.0 percent in January 2021, compared with the same month last year. Figures by the National Statistics Office show an 8.0 percent increase in consumer goods production counterbalanced by declines in intermediate goods (-0.3%), capital goods (-15.5%), and energy (-29.0%).

Durable consumer goods also experienced a decline of 11.1 percent over a year, whereas non-durable consumer goods gained 9.1 percent.

The fall in industrial production was the sharpest in a single month since June 2020, when the Index slipped by 6.7 percent.

Compared with December 2020, however, the Index rose by 0.7 percent, driven by a 5.3 percent increase in production of consumer goods, collectively. Non-durable consumer goods gained 6.7 percent while durable consumer goods decreased by 4.4 percent.

Capital goods production registered the largest month-on-month drop, down 5.0 percent while intermediate goods and energy fell by 2.0 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively.