Among the three main industrial sectors, output fell by 11.9 percent in manufacturing, though in mining it remained largely unchanged, falling by just 0.6 percent. In the case energy production, output actually rose, by 15 percent.

Commenting on the results, Helle Bunder, leading analyst at Statistics Estonia, said that in January the volume of industrial production¹ fell in almost all manufacturing areas. "The manufacture of food products was the only major industry where production increased in January – by 6.9 percent," Bunder said.

Of more significant industries, output was seen in the manufacture of timber and wooden products (down by 8.7 percent), with fabricated metal products (11.3 percent fall), electrical equipment (19 percent), and computers and electronic products (17.2 percent).

In January 2024, 64.9 percent of the total production of manufacturing was sold to the external market, ie. exported, Statistics Estonia reported.

Compared with January 2023, the sales of manufacturing production² fell by 9.9 percent at current prices, according to working-day adjusted data. Domestic sales fell by 4.4 percent; export sales by 12.9 percent.

Meanwhile between December and January, the seasonally adjusted total industrial production fell by 6.6 percent, while the production of manufacturing went down by 8.4 percent.

As for energy production, the volume of electricity production (in megawatt-hours) rose by 5.6 percent, while the production of heat, perhaps unsurprisingly given the conditions, also rose.

Heat production refers to district heating, centrally controlled hot water, generated at district heating plants and piped into many apartment buildings during the coldest months. This rose by 20.6 percent in January this year, Statistics Estonia says.

Statistics Estonia compiled the above survey on behalf of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications.

More detailed information from Statistics Estonia is available here, here and here. 

^{1 Volume index of industrial production – an index that expresses the change in the volume of industrial production at constant prices compared with the base period. The producer price index is used for calculating the production values at constant prices.}

^{2 Value index of industrial sales – an index that expresses the change in the value of sold industrial production at current prices compared with the base period.}

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