News Releases

Index of Industrial Production: July 2023
NR160/2023
Release Date: 11 September 2023
Cut off Date: 04 September 2023
In July 2023, industrial output increased by 2.2 per cent when compared to July 2022.

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The monthly Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is a business cycle indicator. It provides an early measure of change in the volume of industrial output produced by domestic businesses in the manufacturing, energy, and quarrying sectors in Malta.

Total industrial output – annual comparison 

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 increased by 3.6 per cent (Chart 1).

Chart 1. Annual comparison of the total industrial production

% change compared to the corresponding month of the previous year

No Data Found

Manufacturing output – annual comparison

In July 2023, manufacturing output went up by 3.5 per cent. The largest upward change was registered in the production of chemical and pharmaceutical products (31.2 per cent) followed by the production of wood, paper products 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 manufacturing and the production of food products and beverages fell by 8.4 per cent, 7.0 per cent and 0.2 per cent respectively (Chart 2).

Industrial output – annual comparison by main industrial grouping

The Main Industrial Groupings (MIGs) provide an alternative statistical breakdown of economic activities classified according to end-use categories. They combine several NACE divisions, groups and classes together (see methodological table for further information).

In July 2023, the production of consumer 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 energy and 1.7 per cent in the production of capital goods (Chart 3).

Chart 2. Manufacturing output - annual comparison by selected aggregates

% change compared to the corresponding month of the previous year

No Data Found

Chart 3. Annual comparison by main industrial grouping

% change compared to the corresponding month of the previous year

No Data Found

Seasonally adjusted industrial production – monthly comparison

A clearer picture of the economic developments can be obtained when indices are adjusted for seasonal effects. These recurring effects are removed from the index series to enable month-to month comparisons (see methodological points 5 and 6).

The seasonally adjusted index of industrial production for July 2023 increased by 3.3 per cent when compared to June 2023 and stood at 112.2 index points (2015=100) (Chart 4).

Chart 4. Seasonally adjusted index of industrial production

Index (2015 = 100)

No Data Found

Additional Tables and Charts

Methodological Notes

1. This Index of Industrial Production is a Principal European Economic Indicator (PEEI) and compiled in accordance with Commission Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 and Commission Implementing Regulation 2020/1197 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European Business Statistics. The NSO has also adopted methodologies and guidelines recommended by Eurostat and the United Nations.

2. The Maltese Index of Industrial Production is calculated using a Laspeyres-type index (2015=100). Aggregation weights are updated every five years and the gross value added is used as the weighting variable. The whole series is available from the year 2000 onwards.

3. The sample covers 80 per cent of the total industrial turnover and the number of surveyed businesses is around 200. A combination of cut-off and stratified random sampling techniques are used. The volume of industrial production is calculated using three methods: the physical quantities of output, the deflated turnover and the number of hours worked.

4. In this news release, Energy refers to NACE D35 only – Electricity, gas steam and air conditioning supply. It excludes B05 – mining of coal and lignite, B06 – extraction of crude petroleum and natural gas, C19 – manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products and E36 – water, collection, treatment and supply. The index excludes the electricity supply imported via the Malta-Sicily Interconnector.

5. Year-on-year comparisons refer to indices that are calendar adjusted while month-on-month comparisons refer to calendar and seasonally adjusted index numbers. These adjustments aid interpretation of data by removing regularly recurring variations from a time series. The officially recommended software JDemetra+ is used to adjust all series in this news release.

6. The calendar effect is the variation caused by the changing number of working/trading days, fixed and moving holidays, leap year and other calendar-related phenomena. The seasonal effect is the variation caused by any pattern that repeats on a regular basis in the same period each year.

7. The average weighted response rate for this indicator is around 80%. The data is to be considered as provisional and therefore subject to revision.

8. The aggregation weights (gross value added) of the various categories used for the calculation of the Index of Industrial Production for the year 2015 (base year) are as follows:

NACE Section NACE Divisions Description Share
B8 Mining and Quarrying0.00
C13, 14, 25, 27, 28 and 31 to 33 Other manufacturing0.31
10 and 11 Food products and beverages0.22
26 and 29 Computer, electronic and optical products and motor vehicles 0.10
22 to 23 Rubber, plastic products and other non-metallic mineral products0.09
16 to 18 Wood, paper products and printing 0.09
20 and 21 Chemicals and pharmaceuticals products0.09
D35 Energy0.08
Total (Sections B, C and D)1.00
Main Industrial Grouping Description Example
Capital Goods Capital goods are physical assets used by businesses to produce consumer (final) goods Machinery equipment
Intermediate goods Intermediate goods, also called semi-finished goods are products used as inputs to produce a consumer (final) good Rubber and plastic products
Consumer goods Consumer goods, also called final goods are products that are readily available for consumption by consumers. These goods do not undergo further transformation in production Food products and beverages
Energy Energy refers to the production of electricity Electricity excluding supply imported via the Malta-Sicily Interconnector

9. More information relating to this news release may be accessed at:

Sources and Methods
Statistical Concepts 
Metadata 
Classifications 

10. References to this news release are to be cited appropriately.

11. A detailed news release calendar is available online.

12. For further assistance, please submit your query through our online request form.

Index of Industrial Production: July 2023
NR160/2023
Release Date: 11 September 2023
Cut off Date: 04 September 2023
Manager,Technical,Industrial,Engineer,Working,And,Control,Robotics,With,Monitoring
  • In July 2023, industrial output increased by 2.2 per cent when compared to July 2022.
  • The largest annual upward change in the industrial production was registered in the chemical and pharmaceutical products (31.2 per cent).
  • When compared to the previous month, total industrial production increased by 3.3 per cent.
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