Manufacturing output increased markedly in February (3.1%, seasonally adjusted) and exceeded the levels recorded a year earlier; however, in the first two months it remained 1.2% lower year-on-year (working-day adjusted). On a monthly basis, output increased in low-, medium-low- and high-technology industries, exceeding year-earlier levels in all of them. In the first two months combined, output in high-technology industries remained significantly lower year-on-year (by 11%, non-adjusted), primarily due to a sharp decline in January, with the contraction concentrated by our estimate mainly in the pharmaceutical industry. Output in medium-high-technology industries declined in current terms in February and was slightly lower year-on-year over the first two months. Within these industries, output was lower in the manufacture of electrical equipment, the manufacture of motor vehicles and (semi-)trailers, as well as in the energy-intensive chemical industry (by around one tenth). Output in other energy-intensive industries, classified as low- and medium-low-technology industries, was also lower year-on-year after the first two months: by one fifth in the paper industry, and by around 6.5% in the manufacture of non-metallic mineral products and in the manufacture of basic metals.
The outlook in manufacturing remained subdued in March (similar to a year earlier) amid increased uncertainty.