(Finance) – Istat estimates for December 2021 a 1% decline on a monthly basis and a 4.4% increase on an annual basis of the seasonally adjusted index of industrial production. The economic figure compares with + 2.1% in November (revised by a preliminary of + 1.9%) and the -0.7% expected by analysts, while the trend figure compares with + 6.6% of the previous month (revised by a preliminary of + 6.3%) and + 5% of the consensus. On average in the fourth quarter, the level of production grew by 0.5% compared to the previous quarter, underlines the National Institute of Statistics.
The monthly seasonally adjusted index grows on a cyclical basis only for energy (+ 0.1%), while it decreases for intermediate goods (-0.5%), consumer goods (-1.0%) and capital goods (-2.2%). Adjusted for calendar effects, in December 2021 the overall index increased in trend terms by 4.4% (there were 22 calendar working days, compared to 21 in December 2020). Significant increases characterize i consumer goods (+ 10.4%) e energy (+ 8.9%); more contained is the growth for intermediate goods (+ 2.1%) and capital goods (+ 0.3%).
The sectors of economic activity that record the greatest trend increases are the production of pharmaceutical products basic and pharmaceutical preparations (+ 25.4%), the wood, paper and printing industry (+ 18.7%) and the manufacture of coke and petroleum products refined (+ 16.5%). Declines were recorded in mining activities (-13.9%), in the manufacture of means of transport (-3.7%) and in metallurgy and manufacture of metal products (-3.4%).
Istat highlights that 2021 closes with an increase of 11.8% compared to the previous year compared to a decline of 11.4% in 2020. “The annual growth is widespread in all the main groups of industries and is more marked for intermediate goods and capital goods “, reads a note. The seasonally adjusted level of the December index exceeds the value of February 2020 by 2%month before the start of the health emergency.