Industrial production posted a 3.5% decline in the first ten months of the year 2019, compared to the same period of the year 2018, the National Institute of Statistics said on Wednesday.
This decrease is explained by the drop in production in the energy sector (-7.4%), mechanical and electrical industries (-1.9%), textile, clothing and leather industries (-2.7%).
Similarly, production fell 68.0% in the oil refining sector (cessation of production of the Tunisian Company of Oil Refining Industries since February 2019), according to the INS.
On the other hand, industrial production increased in the sectors of chemical industry (+2.7%), ceramic and glass building materials industry (+1.1%), production and distribution of electricity and water (+4.8%) and the mining sector (+12.6%) due to the rise recorded in the production of raw phosphate (3209.0 thousand tons during the first ten months of the year 2019 against 2435.4 thousand tons during the same period of 2018).
Industrial production decreased by 3.0% in October 2019. This is mainly due to the decline in the energy sector (-3.9%), the mechanical and electrical engineering industry (-4.1%), the
textile, clothing and leather industries (-4.2%), the chemical industry (-8.1%), the oil refining sector (-78.3%), the woodworking sector (-4.7%) and the paper and cardboard industry (-4.5%).
However, industrial production went up in the sectors of food processing industry (+4.3%), ceramic and glass building materials industry (+5.9%), electricity production and distribution (+8.2%) and mining (+29.6%) in view of the increase in the production of raw phosphate (430.8 thousand tons in October 2019 against 268.5 thousand tons in the same month of the year 2018) and in the production of rubber and plastics (+16.7%).
