Production in the manufacturing sector across the country saw an annual increase of 7.2% during the last three months of 2025, driven by areas such as chemical, pharmaceuticals, as well as computer and electronics, new data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows.
Between October and December, the highly globalised “modern sector” of the economy — which includes the manufacturing of chemicals, pharmaceuticals, computers, and electronics — experienced a growth of 9.5% in industrial production compared to the same period in 2024.
This offset a deterioration in the “traditional sector” of the economy — which includes all other sectors not including the components of the modern sector — fell by 3.6% over the same period.
While industrial production in the manufacturing sector increased by 7.2% year-on-year, compared to the previous quarter, there was a 1.7% decrease.
From October 2025 to December 2025, turnover in manufacturing industries was down by 9.6% when compared with the previous three-month period, while an annual decline of 10% was recorded when compared with the same three-month period in 2024.
The monthly index of turnover measures the change in the level of sale of industrial products. The turnover indices outlined in this release are exclusive of Vat.
Statistician with the CSO Gregg Patrick said they recommend taking a longer-term view of the indices because of the “variability that can occur within the given months of a quarter”.
Quarter-on-quarter, bakery and farinaceous products saw the largest increase in both production, as the country headed into the festive period, up by 20.8%. Its turnover increased by 10.4%. The next highest increase was in transport equipment, with production up 8.1%.
The area that saw the largest decline in production compared to the previous quarter was dairy products, down 3.3%.
