Industrial production index jumps 14 pct in Q1

The MSAR’s industrial production index (IIP) jumped by 13.9 per cent quarter-to-quarter to 89.4, which is attributed to a 37.9 per cent surge in the production index of electricity, official data released last week by the Statistics and Census Services (DSEC) shows.
During the quarter, the production index of electricity rose to 80.4 from 58.3 as at the end of last year, driving the production index of electricity, gas and water to post a growth of 28.8 per cent quarter-to-quarter for the three months despite the production index of water supply dropping by 7.7 per cent quarter-to-quarter to 114.8.
Meanwhile, the overall production index of the city’s manufacturing sector dropped 0.4 per cent quarter-to-quarter to 97.2, dragged down by the 22.7 per cent drop in the production index of tobacco manufacture, as well as a decrease of 24.5 per cent in that of the manufacture of non-metallic mineral products.
In addition, the production index of the manufacture of wearing apparel declined 68.8 per cent quarter-to-quarter to 0.5, while that of the manufacture of textiles fell by 14.1 per cent to 113.7 from the previous quarter.
However, the production index for the manufacture of food products and beverages achieved 155, which represents a jump of 16.5 per cent compared to 133.1 as at the end of last year.