Industrial production sustains robust growth momentum in August

The manufacturing and processing sector’s industrial production index expanded by 14.6% year on year in August; water supply, waste, and wastewater management and treatment activities increased by 9.5%; electricity production and distribution by 11.8%; and mining by 18.5%.

According to the Statistics Office under the Ministry of Finance, in the first eight months of 2026, the IIP of the manufacturing and processing sector excalated by 12.5% (compared with 10.0% in the same period of 2025), contributing 9.6 percentage points to overall growth. The mining sector grew by 8.1% (against a decline of 2.1% in the same period of 2025), contributing 1.3 percentage points; electricity production and distribution increased by 10.1% (compared with 5.0%), contributing 0.9 percentage points; while water supply, waste, and wastewater management and treatment activities expanded by 9.4% (compared with 8.8%), contributing 0.1 percentage points.

Several key industrial products registered year-on-year increases in output during the first eight months of 2026, including motorcycles, up 27.9%; laptops, 25.7%; automobiles, 24.0%; rolled steel, 23.4%; processed aquatic products, 21.4%; refined sugar, 18.5%; steel bars and angle steel, 15.2%; beer, 14.4%; and chemical paints, 12.2%. By contrast, output of several products declined, including NPK compound fertiliser, down 8.6%; monosodium glutamate, 8.1%; leather footwear, 4.2%; and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), 3.2%.

In the first eight months of 2026, the industrial production index of several key level-two industries exhibited robust year-on-year growth. Metal production increased by 22.4%; beverage production by 16.4%; motor vehicle production by 15.9%; electrical equipment production by 14.6%; production of electronic products, computers, and optical products by 13.9%; and production of beds, wardrobes, tables, and chairs by 12.7%.

By contrast, the IIP of leather and related products manufacturing recorded relatively modest growth of 3.6%, while hard coal and lignite mining declined by 1.8%.

The industrial production index in the first eight months of 2026 increased year on year in all 34 localities. Several localities recorded relatively strong IIP growth owing to robust expansion in manufacturing and processing and in electricity production and distribution. Conversely, some localities posted modest IIP growth as manufacturing and processing, mining, and electricity production and distribution recorded only slight increases or declines.

The number of employees working in industrial enterprises as of August 1, 2026, expanded by 1.0% from the corresponding point of the previous month and by 3.8% from the same period a year earlier.