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 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 May to July 2023, production in manufacturing industries increased by 1.7% when compared with the previous three-month period.
The ‘Modern’ sector, which includes the Chemical, Pharmaceutical, and Computer & Electronic sectors, recorded no change (0%) in industrial production in the period May to July 2023 when compared with the previous three-month period.
The 'Traditional' sector, which is made up of all remaining enterprises, recorded a moderate increase of 3.4% in the period May to July 2023, when compared with the previous three-month period.
On a monthly basis, production in manufacturing industries fell by 12.5% in July 2023.
On an annual basis, production in manufacturing industries was 5.6% lower in the three months from May to July 2023 when compared with the same period in 2022.
From May 2023 to July 2023, turnover in manufacturing industries declined by 15.4% compared with the previous three-month period.
The CSO had previously committed to review its approach to the seasonal adjustment methodology used in this monthly Industrial Production and Turnover series. This review is still ongoing, and, in the meantime, the CSO will continue to implement the direct method of seasonal adjustment.
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 in both, as well as percentage changes for the previous two quarters.
| Manufacturing Industries - Seasonally Adjusted and Unadjusted Indices | (Base Year 2015 = 100) | ||||
| Seasonally Adjusted | Unadjusted | ||||
| Production Index | Turnover Index | Production Index | Turnover Index | ||
| July 2022 | 177.4 | 152.0 | 160.6 | 152.4 | |
| June 2023 | 194.1 | 155.9 | 172.3 | 138.8 | |
| July 2023 | 169.9 | 138.6 | 149.5 | 135.8 | |
| Monthly % change | -12.5 | -11.1 | -13.2 | -2.2 | |
| Annual % change | -4.3 | -8.8 | -6.9 | -10.9 | |
| February 2023 - April 2023 | 174.9 | 156.1 | 152.7 | 143.8 | |
| May 2023 - July 2023 | 177.9 | 132.1 | 149.4 | 123.1 | |
| % change | 1.7 | -15.4 | -2.2 | -14.4 | |
Figure 1 shows the seasonally adjusted production indices in Modern and Traditional Sectors.
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (08 September 2023) published the Industrial Production and Turnover release for July 2023 (Provisional) and June 2023 (Final).
Commenting on the release, Eamonn Cleary, Statistician in the Business Statistics Division, said: "Production in manufacturing industries increased by 1.7% from May 2023 to July 2023 when compared with the previous three-month period (See Headline Table, Table 1, and Table 3b).
The 'Modern' sector, which includes the Chemical, Pharmaceutical, and Computer & Electronic sectors, recorded no change (0%) in industrial production in the period May to July 2023 when compared with the previous three-month period. Meanwhile, the 'Traditional' sector, which is made up of all remaining enterprises, recorded a moderate increase of 3.4% over the same period (See Table 2 and Table 3b).
Production in manufacturing industries fell by 12.5% in July 2023, compared with June 2023 (See Headline Table, Table 1, and Table 3a).
On an annual basis, production in manufacturing industries was 5.6% lower in the three months from May to July 2023 when compared with the same period in 2022 (See Table 1 and Table 3b).
From May 2023 to July 2023, turnover in manufacturing industries fell by 15.4% when compared with the previous three-month period (See Headline Table, Table 4, and Table 5b).
In general, it should be noted that the results presented in this release reflect contract manufacturing activity in the multinational sectors."