Industrial output jumps 13.7%—NSO
T
he country’s industrial output increased by 4.9 percentage points to 13.7 percent in 2023 anchored by the manufacturing sector despite utility output remaining subdued, a National Statistical Office (NSO) report shows.
The NSO’s latest Index and Industrial Production (IIP) for 2023 shows output increased from 8.8 percent in 2022 while manufacturing output, which was the main driver anchored by food production, grew by 28.7 percent.
The IIP, which captures the average movements in the volume of goods and services produced by various industries, shows that utilities output decreased by 32.8 percent.
Reads the report in part: “During the same period, the average industrial output of all sectors within the manufacturing sector increased with the exception of the manufacturing of rubber and plastics products and the manufacturing of other non-metallic mineral products, which includes cement products.”
Within the manufacturing sector, on average, the production of food products recorded the highest increase at 68.9 percent with the beverages recording the least increase at 8.3 percent.
The IIP further shows that under utilities, the generation of electricity declined by an average of 32.7 percent whereas water supply increased by 0.5 percent.
“In terms of contributing to the annual average growth rate of production volume, which reached 13.7 percent, the manufacturing sector showed a positive impact with contributions of 15.4 percentage points unlike utilities,” reads the report.
Manufacturers Association of Malawi chairperson Gloria Zimba, in an interview yesterday, attributed the increased industrial output to a slight improvement in power supply and a complete reopening from Covid-19 pandemic restrictions, which crippled business operations.
“Most industries, especially manufacturing, only reopened completely in 2023 after some partial reopening in 2022 when some workers were still working from home due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” she said.
Zimba said the nature of factories, especially where production is not fully automated, working from home was only applicable to the administration departments while production needed complete reopening to fully recover.
Ministry of Trade and Industry spokesperson Patrick Botha yesterday described the report as inspiring, saying it comes at a time government’s production strategy is also prioritising the manufacturing sector.
“Businesses are recovering from cyclones Freddy, Ana and Gombe which coupled with Covid-19 left most industries weak,” he said.
The utility sector’s subdued performance comes at a time the Malawi Government Annual Economic Report 2024 shows that Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi and Blantyre Water Board (BWB) posted losses of K49 billion and K26.7 billion, respectively, in 2023/24 fiscal year.
Malawi’s IIP’s base year for the indices is 2019, according to NSO.
