Provisional Industrial Production Index – April 2018

(Stock Photo)

The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) decreased by 17.7 per cent in April 2018 when compared with the previous month. This was due to decreases in the indices for Mining and Quarrying of 17.9 per cent; Manufacturing of 25.6 per cent and Electricity, Gas and Water of 3.5 per cent.

According to the data produced by the Barbados Statistical Service, the IIP for April decreased by 4.6 per cent when compared to April 2017. This was due to a decline in the index for the Manufacturing Sector of 8.6 per cent, while there were increases in the indices for Mining and Quarrying of 2.0 per cent and Electricity, Gas and Water of 0.9 per cent.

The output for the Mining and Quarrying Sector increased by 2.0 per cent at the end of April 2018 when compared to the previous year. This was as a result of an increase in the index for Stone Quarrying of 4.2 per cent, while the index for Mining recorded a decrease of 5.1 per cent.

The performance of the Manufacturing Sector decreased by 25.6 per cent in April 2018 when compared to March 2018. Year-on-year output for April 2018 decreased by 8.6 per cent, which was reflected in decreases in the indices for:

Beverages and Tobacco of 5.2 per cent; Wearing Apparel of 0.7 per cent; Wooden Furniture of 27.2 per cent; Chemicals of 37.6 per cent; Non-metallic Mineral Products of 36.7 per cent; Electronic Components of 16.0 per cent; and Other Manufacturing of 14.1 per cent.

The Electricity, Gas and Water Sector increased by 0.9 per cent when compared with the previous year due to an increase in the consumption of Water of 9.2 per cent. There was a decline in the generation of Natural Gas of 26.5 per cent and Electricity of 0.8 per cent.

Summary of Index Changes

 Economic Affairs Division