Prague – Industrial production in the Czech Republic returned to decline in March. It decreased by 2.7 percent year-on-year, compared to February, production was lower by 1.6 percent. Construction production fell by 8.3 percent year-on-year, the biggest drop in three years. It weakened land and engineering construction. The foreign trade of the Czech Republic ended in March with a surplus of CZK 39.3 billion, up by CZK 22.3 billion year-on-year. He was positively influenced by the electrical equipment business. The data was published today by the Czech Statistical Office (ČSÚ).
Industry fell by 2.7 percent year-on-year in March
Industrial production returned to decline in March after a one-month increase. It decreased by 2.7 percent year-on-year, compared to February, production was lower by 1.6 percent. According to him, the reason for the decline was last year’s high comparative base in the production of automobiles and the continued decline in the production of machinery and equipment.
“The year-on-year decline in industrial production in March was most influenced by two factors. The first of them was last year’s exceptionally high comparative base in the production of motor vehicles. The second was the continuing decline in the production of machinery and equipment, which has already affected most branches of this industry,” said the director of the Department of Agricultural Statistics and Forestry, Industry, Construction and Energy CZSO Radek Matějka.
In February, domestic industry increased slightly by 0.7 percent year-on-year and improved by 1.9 percent month-on-month after a three-month decline. But analysts pointed out at the time that its total production would have fallen year-on-year without the influence of the automotive industry.
The value of new orders increased by 5.1 percent year-on-year in March this year. New orders from abroad increased by 8.6 percent compared to last March, while new domestic orders fell by 1.1 percent. Month-on-month, according to statistics, the value of new orders was lower by 1.5 percent.
According to the CZSO, the year-on-year increase in orders also most affected the most important branch of Czech industry, i.e. the automotive industry, but in the opposite direction than in the case of production. “In the production of motor vehicles, the growth in the value of new orders was partly reflected in last year’s low comparative base, but also in the growth of the entire industry. The value of newly contracted orders also increased in the production of electrical equipment, especially lighting components for cars,” said Veronika Doležalová, head of the industry statistics department of the CZSO .
For the first time since the end of 2022, the value of new orders in the chemical industry increased year-on-year. Fewer orders were recorded in the production of machinery and equipment, the metalworking industry and the production of basic metals, metallurgy and foundry.
The average registered number of employees decreased by two percent year-on-year.
Construction production fell by 8.3% year-on-year, the most in three years
Construction production in the Czech Republic fell by 8.3 percent year-on-year in March this year, which is the most significant drop in more than three years. It weakened land and engineering construction. The number of apartment constructions started decreased by almost a fifth compared to last March. Production in the construction industry also fell in a month-on-month comparison, by 7.8 percent.
Last year, production in the construction industry decreased year-on-year for most months, only rising in two months. In January this year, construction production first fell year-on-year, then rose in February, but returned to decline again in March. In addition, the decline in March was the largest since February 2021.
Compared to last year, construction production in March decreased by 11.1 percent in building construction. Engineering construction, which includes the construction of roads or telecommunications and energy networks, weakened slightly, by 0.9 percent. “While the year-on-year decline was entirely due to building construction, engineering constructions contributed more to the month-on-month decline,” said Petra Cuřínová, head of the CZSO’s construction and housing statistics department.
In March this year, the construction of 2,706 apartments was started, which is 17.6 percent less than last year. According to statistics, the decrease was caused by a decrease in the number of apartment buildings in family houses. On the contrary, the number of started constructions of apartments in apartment buildings increased year-on-year. 2,559 apartments were completed, 0.2 percent more year-on-year. In particular, the number of completed apartments in apartment buildings increased.
The CZSO recorded a significant increase in the value of projects with building permits issued in March, which rose by 49.1 percent year-on-year to 66 billion crowns. But only a few large buildings were behind the increase. “This growth was fundamentally influenced by the approval of six buildings with budgets over a billion crowns. After their deduction, the indicative value would have dropped by seven percent,” said Radek Matějka, director of the Department of Agriculture and Forestry, Industry, Construction and Energy Statistics of the CZSO.
Both exports and imports fell year-on-year in March, but the trade balance continued to grow
The foreign trade of the Czech Republic ended in March with a surplus of 39.3 billion crowns, which was 22.3 billion crowns higher year-on-year. The result was positively influenced mainly by trade in electrical equipment. The adverse effect on the overall balance was mainly due to a larger trade deficit in refined petroleum products. The trade balance continued to grow in March, although both exports and imports fell year-on-year.
“The reason was the faster rate of decline in imports, which decreased by more than 36 billion CZK compared to last year’s value. Of this, almost 32 billion represented the lower value of imports of products from the manufacturing industry,” said Jana Mazánková, head of the trade balance department of the CZSO.
Year-on-year, exports fell by 3.3 percent to CZK 408.7 billion and imports by nine percent to CZK 369.4 billion. This March had three working days less than last year. Month-on-month after seasonal adjustment, exports decreased by 1.1 percent and imports by 2.2 percent.
The surplus of the foreign trade balance with the countries of the European Union decreased by CZK 1.7 billion year-on-year in March. The trade deficit with non-EU countries decreased by CZK 23.6 billion.
According to statistics, the overall result of Czech foreign trade in goods in March was particularly favorably influenced by trade in electrical equipment, which improved by nine billion crowns year-on-year. In machinery and equipment, the positive balance increased by CZK 2.8 billion and in motor vehicles by CZK 2.3 billion. The deficit in trade with base metals decreased by CZK 2.3 billion, and trade with other means of transport ended with a surplus of CZK 1.4 billion, compared to a deficit of CZK 1.3 billion in the previous year.
The adverse effect on the overall balance was mainly caused by a larger deficit in trade with refined petroleum products by CZK 1.7 billion. A lower electricity trade surplus of CZK 1.2 billion also had a negative effect.
CR trade industry construction economy AUDIO GRAPHICS March CZSO OPENER
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