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10 NEWS 14.9.2023 Industrial output in July 2023 increased by 2.2 per cent when compared to July 2022 IN July 2023, the index of industrial production increased by 2.2 per cent when compared to the corresponding month in 2022. When excluding energy, the index in- creased by 3.6 per cent. e monthly Index of Industrial Pro- duction (IIP) is a business cycle indica- tor. It provides an early measure of change in the volume of industrial output pro- duced by domestic businesses in the manufacturing, energy, and quarrying sectors in Malta. Manufacturing output In July 2023, manufacturing output went up by 3.5 per cent. e largest up- ward change was registered in the pro- duction of chemical and pharmaceu- tical products (31.2 per cent) followed by the production of wood, paper prod- ucts and printing (25.3 per cent) and the production of computer, electronic and optical products and motor vehicles (7.9 per cent). On the other hand, rubber, plastic and other non-metallic, other manufactur- ing and the production of food products and beverages fell by 8.4 per cent, 7.0 per cent and 0.2 per cent respectively. Industrial output e Main Industrial Groupings (MIGs) provide an alternative statisti- cal breakdown of economic activities wclassified according to end-use cate- gories. ey combine several NACE divi- sions, groups and classes together (see methodological table for further infor- mation). In July 2023, the production of con- sumer goods and intermediate goods increased by 5.5 per cent and 4.5 per cent respectively. On the contrary, there was a drop of 3.2 per cent in the production of ener- gy and 1.7 per cent in the production of capital goods. A clearer picture of the economic de- velopments can be obtained when indi- ces are adjusted for seasonal effects. ese recurring effects are removed from the index series to enable month- to month comparisons. e seasonally adjusted index of in- dustrial production for July 2023 in- creased by 3.3 per cent when compared to June 2023 and stood at 112.2 index points (2015=100). Seasonally adjusted index of industrial production • Index (2015 = 100) Annual comparison of the total industrial production Manufacturing output - annual comparison by selected aggregates % change compared to the corresponding month of the previous year

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