The sector’s turnover rose by 9.7% in March compared with March 2022, driven mainly by stronger sales of non-durable consumer goods and capital goods, which advanced by 20% and 17% respectively, according to figures released this Friday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
March also posted a 1.3 percentage point year over year gain versus February, with the industry continuing a 25-month streak of growth after a prior period of negative rates tied to the Covid-19 interruption.
Non-durable consumer goods and capital goods led the gains in industrial invoicing, while durable consumer goods climbed 11.1% and intermediate goods rose 6.8%. Energy, however, weighed on the totals with an 18% year-over-year decline in sales.
Among the segments, electrical equipment and materials manufacturing registered the largest annual increase at 30.6%, beverage manufacturing up 29.6%, and other non-metallic mineral product manufacturing up 27.3%. The steepest declines were seen in coke ovens and oil refining, down 18%, and marine, rail, aerospace construction and combat vehicles, down 13.5%.
With calendar effects and seasonally adjusted data, sector turnover grew by 10.3% in March versus the same month a year earlier, and was up two percentage points from February.
Sales fell 2.8% month over month
Despite the yearly growth, the month-to-month and seasonally adjusted data show a noticeable drop, marking the largest monthly decline since March 2022. Overall, sales slipped by 2.8%, following a 4.5% decrease in the prior period.
In March, only durable goods and non-durable goods raised turnover on a monthly basis, increasing by 3.5% and 0.7% respectively. By contrast, energy fell 5.9%, capital goods declined 5.2%, and intermediate goods fell 1.1% month over month.
In the seasonally adjusted series, the strongest month-on-month gains were in computer products manufacturing at 10.1%, repair and assembly of machinery and equipment at 9.9%, and furniture manufacturing at 6.4%. The largest monthly reductions occurred in motor vehicle manufacturing at 22.1%, other transportation equipment manufacturing at 9.9%, and coke ovens and oil refining at 6%.
Sales fell only in Murcia, with Asturias leading the rise
Turnover in March rose year over year across all autonomous communities except Murcia, where it fell by 1.8%. The biggest gains occurred in Asturias at 23.7%, Galicia at 22.1%, Extremadura at 22%, and Castilla y León at 17.6%, while Andalusia posted a smaller rise of 1.2%. Madrid increased by 6.1%, Aragon by 7.4%, and the Valencian Community by 8%.
On a monthly basis, seasonally and calendar adjusted data show a 2.8% to 4.5% decline in sector turnover, marking the most substantial monthly drop since March 2022. Source: INE data and analysis through March 2025.