NSO Malta | Short-term Industrial Indicators: Q3/2024

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Short-term Industrial Indicators: Q3/2024

NR 223/2024

Release Date: 26 November 2024

Cut-off Date: 08 November 2024

When compared to Q3 2023, working-day adjusted industrial turnover increased by 3.3 per cent.
The highest increase was recorded in the consumer goods (17.7 per cent).
When compared to Q3 2023, industrial employment, hours worked, and gross wages and salaries increased by 1.7 per cent, 2.3 per cent and 6.2 per cent, respectively.
When compared to Q2 2024, seasonally adjusted industrial turnover declined by 2.5 per cent, with the highest decrease occurring in the intermediate goods sector (9.6 per cent).

Short-term Industrial Indicators: Q3/2024

NR 223/2024

Release Date: 26 November 2024

Cut-off Date: 08 November 2024

Seasonally adjusted industrial turnover recorded during the third quarter of 2024 decreased by 2.5 per cent over the previous quarter. When compared to the corresponding period of 2023, working-day adjusted industrial turnover increased by 3.3 per cent.

Quarterly comparison

During the third quarter of 2024, seasonally adjusted industrial turnover decreased by 2.5 per cent over the previous quarter. Decreases were recorded in the intermediate goods (9.6 per cent) and in the capital goods (1.1 per cent). On the other hand, increases were registered in energy (3.0 per cent) and consumer goods (2.4 per cent) (Table 1).

When compared to Q2 2024, seasonally adjusted industrial employment (Table 3), industrial hours worked (Table 5) and industrial gross wages and salaries (Table 7) increased by 0.5 per cent, 1.6 per cent and 0.4 per cent, respectively.

Annual comparison

When compared to the corresponding quarter of 2023, working-day adjusted industrial turnover increased by 3.3 per cent. The highest increase was registered in the consumer goods (17.7 per cent), followed by energy (6.5 per cent) and capital goods (3.5 per cent). On the contrary, intermediate goods dropped by 13.4 per cent (Table 2).

An increase of 1.7 per cent was recorded in the year-on-year unadjusted industrial employment (Table 4). Working-day adjusted industrial hours worked increased by 2.3 per cent (Table 6) and industrial gross wages and salaries went up by 6.2 per cent (Table 8).

Chart 1. Annual industrial turnover working-day adjusted variation

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

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Tables

Table 1. Industrial turnover by main industrial groupings (Seasonally adjusted; 2021=100)

Table 2. Industrial turnover by main industrial groupings (Working-day adjusted; 2021=100)

Table 3. Industrial employment by main industrial groupings (Seasonally adjusted; 2021=100)

Table 4. Industrial employment by main industrial groupings (Unadjusted; 2021=100)

Table 5. Industrial hours worked by main industrial groupings (Seasonally adjusted; 2021=100)

Table 6. Industrial hours worked by main industrial groupings (Working-day adjusted; 2021=100)

Table 7. Industrial gross wages and salaries by main industrial groupings (Seasonally adjusted; 2021=100)

Table 8. Industrial gross wages and salaries by main industrial groupings (Working-day adjusted; 2021=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 2021. 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 business units 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 the 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.

10. A distribution of the aggregation weights (2021) by variable and main industrial groupings is presented in the following table.

Main Industrial Groupings	Turnover	Employment	Wages and salaries	Hours worked
Intermediate goods	31.8	30.2	32.1	29.6
Energy	21.3	5.8	5.2	7.7
Capital goods	16.6	23.2	23.5	24.5
Consumer goods	30.3	40.8	39.2	38.2
Durable consumer goods	1.9	5.8	4.4	2.8
Non-durable consumer goods	28.4	35.0	34.8	35.4
Total industry	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0

11. The calculation of the percentage changes from the indices table may slightly differ from the percentage changes published due to rounding.

12. The data contained in this release should be considered as provisional and subject to revision. For an updated time series which includes past data, please refer to the Statistical Indicators for this domain.

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

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News Releases

Short-term Industrial Indicators: Q3/2024

Short-term Industrial Indicators: Q3/2024

Short-term Industrial Indicators: Q3/2024

Chart 1. Annual industrial turnover working-day adjusted variation

Tables

Tables

Methodological Notes