Croatia's industrial production in December 2020 rose by 0.6% from the previous month and by 0.3% compared with the same month of 2019, the National Bureau of Statistics (DZS) reported on Friday.

The year on year rise in December was recorded in two of five sectors. The production of capital goods increased the most, by 10.9%, while the production of intermediate goods rose by 4.7%. On the other hand, the production of durable consumer goods declined by 8.1%, the production of energy by 4.9% and the production of non-durable consumer goods by 2.6%.

In the whole of 2020, industrial production fell by 3.4%, with the production of durable consumer goods dropping the most, by 14.1%. The other sectors also recorded declines, but at much lower rates.

Industrial production was under pressure even before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in March, and its decline was only exacerbated by the crisis.

“In the months ahead, trends in industry, retail and the economy as a whole will be hampered by the negative impact of the pandemic. A recovery can be expected in the second quarter provided that vaccination is accelerated and the pandemic subsides,” Raiffeisenbank Austria (RBA) said in its comment on the DZS report.