Global manufacturing grows 1.7% in 2013 first quarter – Report

World manufacturing output grew by 1.7% in the first quarter of 2013, up from 1.3% in the last quarter of 2012, a UN agency said June 4, 2013.

In a report, the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) said world industrial production growth increased slightly in the first quarter of 2013 after a nearly three-year-long downward trend.

The report noted that manufacturing output in the US systematically increased in 2012 and the first quarter of 2013.

China’s manufacturing output, UNIDO says also grew by 9.7% adding that the growth rates in other major developing and emerging industrial economies were moderate.

“Brazil’s production rose by 1.6%, India’s 2.5%, Indonesia’s 4.5%, Mexico’s 1.1% and Turkey’s 4.0%,” the report noted.

UNIDO indicated that Japan’s manufacturing output dropped in the first quarter but showed signs of rebound with a 2.0% growth on a quarter-to-quarter basis.

Estimates based on limited data show that the manufacturing output of least developed countries (LDCs) grew by 4.0% in the first quarter of 2013.

But manufacturing growth recovery may slow. The report observes that “the declining trend of manufacturing output seems to have been reversed both in industrialized and developing and emerging industrial economies. However, growth prospects remain fragile due to the prolonged recession in Europe”.

The report added that the recovery of industrialized economies has been jeopardized by stagnation in Europe due to austerity measures.

It says; “Manufacturing output in France fell by 4.2%, in Germany by 1.7%, in Italy by 4.5%, in Russian by 3.1% and in the United Kingdom by 2.1%.”

UNIDO’s quarterly report presents the latest estimates of world industrial growth by country groups and by manufacturing sector.

By Ekow Quandzie