Estonian industrial production up 15 pct year-on-year in March

The production of industrial enterprises in Estonia increased by 15 percent in March compared to the same month in 2016, Statistics Estonia said on Tuesday.

Production increased in the energy sector, mining and quarrying as well as manufacturing. In March, manufacturing production was 10 percent higher compared to the corresponding month of 2016, said the press release.

The growth was broad-based with production in March surpassing the volume of March 2016 in more than two-thirds of the branches of industry, it noted.

The growth in production was mostly due to an increase in the manufacture of wood products and metal products, it added.

Production also increased in the manufacture of food products, motor vehicles and building materials, said the press release.

In March, 69 percent of the total production of manufacturing was sold to the external market. The sales of manufacturing production for export increased by 11 percent, and sales to the domestic market rose by 12 percent compared to March 2016, showed the unadjusted data.

Compared to the previous month, the seasonally adjusted total industrial production increased by 2 percent; production in manufacturing rose by 1 percent in March 2017.

Compared to March 2016, the production of electricity increased 54 percent and the production of heat 1 percent in March 2017. Endit