Romania's manufacturing industry posts 45% contraction in April

Romania’s industrial output contracted by 38.5% in April compared to the same month last year, according to the statistics office INS.

In the core manufacturing sector, the production plunged by 45%, driven by automobile production (-81.7%) and light industries. The manufacturing sectors least hit by the lockdown were those of pharmaceuticals production (-11%), electronic and optical devices production (-11.9%), and food production (-14.6%). The only sector that thrived was that of tobacco processing (+10.7%).

The reduction in economic activity had a lower impact on critical industries such as utilities (-3.4% year-on-year) and mining and quarrying (-18.4% year-on-year).

The annual industrial contraction thus accelerated (to 38.5% year-on-year) in April after the 12.7% decline in March, when factories still operated normally in the first half of the month before the lockdown restrictions forced them to reduce the pace or suspend operations. Some improvement is expected in May when large factories, including those in the automobile sector, resumed operations.

Notably, Romania’s industry had been losing ground even before the coronavirus crisis, as the industrial output narrowed by more than 2% year-on-year in January and February.

In seasonally and workday adjusted terms, Romania’s industrial production dropped by 27.7% in April compared to March - which is the second-steepest decline in Europe after Hungary (-30.5%).

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