The results presented in this release reflect contract manufacturing activity and outsourcing in the Irish industrial economy. This release is prepared in compliance with the requirement of EU Regulation 1165/98, as amended, and the standards set out in the UN 2010 International Recommendations for the Index of Industrial Production. These standards set out that outsourced production is included as part of an enterprise’s Irish production.
The scale of contract manufacturing and outsourcing in the Irish industrial economy has increased since 2015, meaning that very high levels of short-term, i.e. monthly, volatility may be present in the indices presented in this release.
With this in mind, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) recommends that analysts take a longer-term view of the indices. Accordingly, much of the commentary presented by the CSO in the release will refer to rolling quarterly time periods.
From October to December 2024, production in manufacturing industries increased by 0.9% when compared with the previous three-month period.
On a monthly basis, production in manufacturing industries rose by 4.3% in December 2024.
Over the three months from October to December 2024, production in manufacturing industries was 5.6% higher when compared with the same three months in 2023.
In the three-month period from October to December 2024, the Modern sector experienced an annual increase of 5.5% in production when compared with the same period in 2023. In comparison, annual production in the Traditional sector grew by 4.6% during the same period.
From October to December 2024, turnover in manufacturing industries was up by 17.9% when compared with the previous three-month period.
In line with best practice, the CSO has concluded a review of the seasonal adjustment methodology used in this monthly Industrial Production and Turnover series. The review has concluded that, at this time there is not enough evidence to suggest that switching to an Indirect Approach of seasonal adjustment would bring about improved results in the short term. Therefore, the CSO has decided to continue with the Direct Approach to seasonal adjustment. Industrial Production and Turnover Seasonal Adjustment Review 2024
The headline table shows the seasonally adjusted and unadjusted Production and Turnover indices for Manufacturing industries. It also highlights the monthly and annual percentage changes for these indices, as well as percentage changes for the current compared with the previous quarter.
| Manufacturing Industries - Seasonally Adjusted and Unadjusted Indices | (Base Year 2021 = 100) | ||||
| Seasonally Adjusted | Unadjusted | ||||
| Production Index | Turnover Index | Production Index | Turnover Index | ||
| December 2023 | 102.3 | 127.4 | 102.2 | 105.1 | |
| November 2024 | 106.4 | 137.5 | 127.2 | 148.5 | |
| December 2024 | 110.9 | 133.3 | 113.5 | 111.4 | |
| Monthly % change | 4.3% | -3.1% | -10.7% | -25.0% | |
| Annual % change | 8.4% | 4.6% | 11.1% | 5.9% | |
| July 2024 - September 2024 | 107.7 | 111.5 | 110.3 | 115.1 | |
| October 2024 - December 2024 | 108.7 | 131.5 | 122.0 | 135.8 | |
| % change | 0.9% | 17.9% | 10.6% | 18.0% | |
Figure 1 and Table 2 show the seasonally adjusted indices for the Modern and Traditional sectors.
Tables 1 & 1a relate to the seasonally adjusted and unadjusted indices for Industrial sectors.
Figure 2 and Table 3b show the seasonally adjusted percentage changes in Manufacturing Industries for a rolling three-month provisional average.
Table 3a relates to provisional results for December 2024 and Table 3c relates to final results for November 2024.
| Production | Turnover | |
| Manufacturing Industries (10-33) | 0.9 | 17.9 |
| Food Products (10) | 9.1 | 10.2 |
| Meat & Meat Products (101) | 0.8 | 3.4 |
| Dairy Products (105) | 13.2 | 5.4 |
| Bakery & Farinaceous Products (107) | 0.7 | 1.7 |
| Grain Mill & Starch Products; Prepared Animal Feeds (106,109) | -5.4 | -7.3 |
| Other Food Products (102-104,108) | 12.5 | 22.1 |
| Textiles, Wearing Apparel & Leather Related Products (13-15) | -10.9 | -5.8 |
| Wood & Wood Products, except Furniture (16) | 8.1 | 9.9 |
| Paper & Paper Products; Printing & Reproduction of Recorded Media (17-18) | 5.9 | 2.2 |
| Rubber & Plastic Products (22) | 4.5 | 0.4 |
| Other Non-Metallic Mineral Products (23) | 3.5 | 1.2 |
| Basic Metals & Fabricated Metal Products (24-25) | 11 | 12.6 |
| Electrical Equipment (27) | 3 | 17.3 |
| Transport Equipment (29-30) | -3.7 | -3.7 |
| Tobacco, Leather, Coke & Refined Petroleum Products, Transport Equipment, Furniture, Repair & Installation of Machinery & Equipment (12,15,19,29-31,33) | -4.7 | -8.4 |
Tables 4 & 4a show the seasonally adjusted and unadjusted Turnover indices for Industrial sectors.
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (07 February 2025) published the Industrial Production and Turnover Index for December 2024.
Commenting on the release, Colin Cotter, Statistician in the Enterprise Statistics Division, said: "Production in manufacturing industries increased by 0.9% from October to December 2024 when compared with the previous three-month period, driven by differences in performance between the highly globalised Modern sector and the Traditional sector (See Headline Table, Table 1, and Table 3b).
Monthly production in manufacturing industries rose by 4.3% between November and December 2024. On an annual basis, production in this sector was 5.6% higher in the three months from October to December 2024 when compared with the same period in 2023 (See Table 1 and Table 3b). The CSO recommends that analysts take a longer-term view of the indices because of the variability that can occur within the given months of a quarter.
The highly globalised Modern sector, which includes the Chemical, Pharmaceutical, and Computer & Electronic sectors, experienced an increase of 5.5% in industrial production between October and December 2024, when compared with the same period in 2023. In comparison, the Traditional sector grew by 4.6% from October to December 2024, compared with the same period in 2023 (See Table 2 and Table 3b).
From October to December 2024, turnover in manufacturing industries was up by 17.9% when compared with the previous three-month period (See Headline Table, Table 4, and Table 3b).
In general, it should be noted that the results presented in this release reflect contract manufacturing activity in the multinational sectors."