NSO Malta | Short-term Industrial Indicators: Q3/2023

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Short-term Industrial Indicators: Q3/2023

NR 213/2023

Release Date: 27 November 2023

Cut off Date: 10 November 2023

Seasonally adjusted industrial turnover recorded during the third quarter of 2023 increased by 3.4 per cent over the previous quarter. When compared to the corresponding period of 2022, working-day adjusted industrial turnover increased by 7.5 per cent.

Quarterly comparison

During the third quarter of 2023, seasonally adjusted industrial turnover increased by 3.4 per cent over the previous quarter. Increases were registered in all the main industrial groupings. The highest increase was registered in the capital goods (14.7 per cent), followed by intermediate goods (5.4 per cent), energy (1.3 per cent) and consumer goods (0.8 per cent) (Table 1).

Seasonally adjusted industrial employment increased by 0.5 per cent (Table 3). During this period, industrial hours worked decreased by 0.5 per cent (Table 5) and industrial gross wages and salaries saw a 1.3 per cent decline (Table 7).

Annual comparison

When compared to the corresponding quarter of 2022, working-day adjusted industrial turnover increased by 7.5 per cent. Increases were registered in the consumer goods (12.1 per cent), capital goods (10.2 per cent) and intermediate goods (6.9 per cent). Meanwhile, a decrease of 3.4 per cent was registered in energy (Table 2).

An increase of 2.4 per cent was recorded in the year-on-year unadjusted industrial employment (Table 4). Working-day adjusted industrial hours worked increased by 0.6 per cent (Table 6) and working-day adjusted industrial gross wages and salaries went up by 8.9 per cent (Table 8).

Chart 1. Annual industrial turnover working-day adjusted variation

(% change in comparison with corresponding quarter in previous year)

Additional Tables and Charts

Table 1. Industrial turnover by main industrial grouping (Seasonally adjusted; 2015=100)

Table 2. Industrial turnover by main industrial grouping (Working-day adjusted; 2015=100)

Table 3. Industrial employment by main industrial grouping (Seasonally adjusted; 2015=100)

Table 4. Industrial employment by main industrial grouping (Unadjusted; 2015=100)

Table 5. Industrial hours worked by main industrial grouping (Seasonally adjusted; 2015=100)

Table 6. Industrial hours worked by main industrial grouping (Working-day adjusted; 2015=100)

Table 7. Industrial gross wages and salaries by main industrial grouping (Seasonally adjusted; 2015=100)

Table 8. Industrial gross wages and salaries by main industrial grouping (Working-day adjusted; 2015=100)

All Tables

Methodological Notes

1. This news release comprises a number of business cycle indicators showing the quarterly evolution of the market of goods and services in the industrial sector. It records the evolution of turnover, employment, wages and salaries, and hours worked over long periods of time. The objective of these indicators is to measure the market activity in the industrial sector. These indicators are compiled as a “five-year chain-linked index”. The current base and reference years are 2015. The results are compiled and published according to the statistical classification of economic activities in the European Community, NACE Rev. 2.

2. The data is collected by means of a monthly questionnaire which is sent to a representative sample of enterprises categorised within the industrial sector. The data is then grossed up to represent the entire industrial population.

3. For the scope of the index calculation, NACE divisions 09, 12, 15, 19, 24 and NACE groups 27.5 and 30.9 are excluded because of their negligible activity.

4. The calendar and seasonal adjustments for this release are done directly on quarterly indices. These indices cannot be compared directly to the indices published by Eurostat, since quarterly adjusted European aggregates are calculated from monthly adjusted series, which are provided by the Member States.

5. Calendar adjustment is a statistical method for removing the calendar effect from an economic time series. The calendar effect is the variation caused by the changing number of particular weekdays or holidays in different months or other time periods (quarters, years). The number of working days for a given quarter may depend on the timing of certain public holidays, the possible overlap of certain public holidays and non-working days and the occurrence of a leap year. This method is used to compare the data with that of the same quarter of the previous year.

6. Working day adjustment is the part of calendar adjustment which focuses on the changing number of working days (Monday to Friday) in the various months/quarters and their effect on statistical indicators for these months/quarters.

7. Seasonal adjustment removes variations which include effects due to quarter lengths, holidays and particular events such as Christmas. Statistically, seasonal adjustment takes place after a time series has already been cleared of calendar effects by way of working-day adjustment. This method is used to compare data with that of the previous quarter.

8. The objective of Main Industrial Groupings (MIGs) is to provide an activity breakdown of industry (NACE Rev. 2 Sections B, C, D and E). These regroup all the activities between Sections B to E and cover economic activities of companies in the quarrying, manufacturing, water and energy sectors. There are four MIGs, namely intermediate goods, energy, capital goods and consumer goods, of which the consumer goods grouping is further broken down into durable consumer goods and non-durable consumer goods.

9. Definitions:

● Turnover: Includes total sales and other income presented in current prices and is expressed net of VAT.

● Wages and salaries: Covers wages and salaries including bonuses, weekly allowances (cost of living allowances), overtime and national social security contributions by employees. It does not include employers’ social security charges.

● Employment: Covers all persons employed, regardless of whether they are part-time or full-time, and includes paid employees, working proprietors and unpaid family workers. Employment is not working-day adjusted since the number of employees does not depend on the factors that make up the working-day effect.

● Hours worked: Covers total amount of hours actually worked; regular working hours and hours worked during overtime, during nights, Sundays or Public holidays. Hours worked but not paid are also considered.

A distribution of the aggregation weights by variable and main industrial grouping is presented in the following table.

Main industrial groupingenter	Turnover	Employment	Wages and salaries	Hours worked
Intermediate goods	35.8	31.9	31.4	33.8
Energy	13.7	4.3	5.6	4.8
Capital goods	17.3	22	24.6	22.2
Consumer goods	33.2	41.8	38.4	39.2
Durable consumer goods	2.3	6.4	2.9	4.4
Non-durable consumer goods	30.9	35.4	35.5	34.8
Total industry	100	100	100	100

10. The calculation of growth rates from the indices table may slightly differ from the growth rates published due to rounding.

11. The data contained in this release should be considered as provisional and thereby subject to revision. Each release may include revisions of the past quarterly data in respect of a rolling two-year period.

12. As from January 2018, the index has been re-referenced from 2010 = 100 to 2015 = 100. Hence, news releases published before January 2018 cannot be directly compared with those published afterwards.

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

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