Industrial output growth dropped to a 17-month low of 0.5% in November last on account of contraction in the manufacturing sector, particularly consumer and capital goods.
Factory output, as measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), had grown by 8.5% in November 2017, as per data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) on January 11.
The previous low was in June 2017, when IIP growth contracted by 0.3%. The growth for October 2018 was revised upwards to 8.4% from 8.1%.
In the April-November period, industrial output grew 5%, compared to 3.2% in the same period of the previous fiscal.
The manufacturing sector, which constitutes 77.63% of the index, recorded a contraction of 0.4% in November, against a growth of 10.4% a year ago.
The mining sector posted 2.7% growth in the month, against 1.4% in November 2017. The power sector output also grew by 5.1% from 3.9% a year ago.
Capital goods output declined by 3.4%, compared to 3.7% growth a year ago. Consumer durables output also dipped by 0.9%, against a growth of 3.1% a year earlier. Consumer non-durable goods also saw a contraction of 0.6%, compared to 23.7% growth a year ago. In terms of industries, 10 out of 23 industry groups in the manufacturing sector showed positive growth in November 2018.
As per use-based classification, the growth rates in November 2018 over November 2017 are 3.2% in primary goods, (minus) 4.5% in intermediate goods and 5% in infrastructure/construction goods.