Industrial output speeds up YoY in February

Industrial output, one of the most important economic indicators, stepped up its growth pace in February, supported by demand from abroad, rising by 12.7% from the same period of last year.

The upward trend confirmed analysts’ expectations, extending last year’s trend. In January, industrial output advanced by 10.6% against the same month of 2010.

“As we anticipated, the first quarter indicates a strongly positive trend for this sector, which is likely to add around 0.7 percentage points for the increase of seasonally-adjusted quarterly GDP in the first quarter. Such a contribution could be enough for GDP to expand in the first quarter, despite the weak values of the many indicators pointing to a low internal demand,” ING Bank analysts believe.

According to National Statistics Institute data, industrial output in February rose by 12.6% from the same month of 2010 and by 12.7% adjusted to the number of working days and seasonality.