Washington, 1 June 2011

World manufacturing output has grown by 6.5% in the first quarter of 2011 compared to the same period last year, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) reported today.

“ The figure clearly indicates the progress of the recovery of world industrial production from the recent financial crisis,” UNIDO said, in the first edition of its new plan to report industrial statistics quarterly. Formerly the presentations were annual.

The report, based on an analysis of quarterly production data, said developing countries were in the lead with their manufacturing production increasing by 11.%. The major contribution to this growth was by China, with its output growing by 15%.

Newly industrialized countries also performed well, with Turkey displaying a growth rate of 13.8 per cent, while Mexico’s was estimated at 7.4% and India’s at 5.1%.

The manufacturing output of industrialized countries increased by 4.4 per cent during the named period, with strong growth of 7.1% observed in the United States, the world’s largest manufacturer.

Major European economies, including France, Germany and the United Kingdom, also demonstrated significant growth in manufacturing output. But other European countries, such as Greece, witnessed a 6.9% drop, while Portugal and Spain maintained a marginal growth of less than one per cent.

Japan’s figures fell by 2.4%. The full impact of the March Tsunami disaster was not yet reflected in manufacturing production data for the first quarter.

Negative growth was observed in North Africa, where the manufacturing output of Egypt and Tunisia fell by 8.9% and 7.4% respectively.

The UNIDO report also contains the growth estimates for the first quarter by major manufacturing sectors. It suggests that production of general machinery has increased by more than 15%, electrical machinery and apparatus by 12%, and medical and precision equipment by 11%.

While industrialized countries performed well in high-tech sectors, their growth in traditional manufacturing areas such as food and beverages, textile and wearing apparel was quite low. Developing countries maintained higher growth across all sectors.

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