Manufacturing output 4 percent up in July

Growth in less than half of industries

In July, almost half of all manufacturing industries saw their output increase on an annual basis. The highest growth among the larger industries was achieved by the transport equipment and the machinery industry. In July 2021 a number of factories in the transport equipment industry were forced to halt production temporarily because of a chip shortage.

Output at high level

A more accurate picture of short-term output developments is obtained when figures are adjusted for seasonal effects and the working-day pattern. After adjustments, a decrease of 0.5 percent is seen in manufacturing output from June to July.

Adjusted for seasonal and working-day effects, manufacturing output is seen to fluctuate significantly. In the spring of 2020, output declined rapidly and a low point was reached in May 2020. After that, output picked up again. In July, however, output fell for the third month in a row, but output levels remained high.

Manufacturers considerably less optimistic in August

In August 2022, the mood among Dutch manufacturers is considerably less optimistic than in the previous month. However, producer confidence is significantly higher than the long-term average.

Germany is an important market for the Dutch manufacturing industry. In August, German producer confidence according to the Business Climate Index of the IFO Institute remained unchanged, following a sharp decline in July. Companies are considerably more pessimistic about the current situation, but less pessimistic about the coming six months. In July, the average daily output generated by the German manufacturing industry contracted by 1.4 percent year on year, as reported by Destatis.