The General Industrial Production Index, known as IPI, showed a year over year drop of 1.8 percent in November. This marks the steepest fall since October 2021, when the index declined by 3.1 percent, according to the National Institute of Statistics, referred to here as INE. The November decline closes a chapter on six straight months of shrinking or stagnant production when viewed over the year. In the penultimate month of 2022, the year over year rate was roughly four percentage points lower than in October, a month that had seen a modest rise of 2.1 percent. These numbers reflect a broad slowdown in industrial activity and carry implications for output across multiple sectors.
Overall power industry production experienced the sharpest downturn among major sectors in November, with a 9.8 percent year over year decrease. Durable consumer goods fell by 6.3 percent, intermediate goods by 2.9 percent, and non-durable consumer goods by 2.1 percent. The pattern points to a broad-based weakening in demand and production chains that ripple through manufacturing, distribution, and investment planning. These figures come from INE and are used by policymakers, economists, and business leaders to gauge the health of the industrial base and to calibrate expectations for the near term.
In contrast, equipment goods stood out as the only sector to register a recovery, recording a 7.3 percent increase in November compared with the same month in the previous year. This unexpected uptick suggests pockets of resilience within the economy where businesses altered procurement patterns, embraced new technology cycles, or benefited from shifts in supply chains that favored capital equipment investments. The gains in this category help temper the overall narrative of decline and highlight how sector-specific dynamics can diverge from the broader headline figure.
The latest data also show notable gains across several other areas, underscoring a more complex picture than a single index can convey. In mining, the output expanded significantly, with year over year growth in the high teens to the low thirties in certain subsegments, depending on the product and market conditions. The electrical materials and equipment manufacturing category posted a solid rise, reflecting ongoing demand for infrastructure upgrades and consumer electronics inputs. Motor vehicle and motorcycle production also increased, signaling continued activity in the transportation equipment segment and the related supply chain nodes that feed assembly lines and aftermarket networks. These sectoral movements illustrate how different industries contribute to the overall rate of industrial production and how policy changes, currency movements, and global demand can shape outcomes over the months ahead.
On the downside, several industries showed clear weakness. Garment manufacturing posted a notable decline, followed by wood and cork products and graphic arts. The downturn in these areas points to diversified challenges such as shifts in consumer preferences, higher input costs, or slower export demand. The breadth of the declines across multiple sectors emphasizes the need for diversified resilience strategies among producers and suppliers to navigate the evolving economic environment. The INE data provide a baseline for evaluating which subsectors are most at risk and where measures such as process modernization, productivity investments, or workforce adjustments might yield the strongest return.