Industrial production fell as a whole by 0.9% in the first nine months of 2017, compared with a 0.2% decrease in the same period of the previous year.
According to the National Institute of Statistics (INS), this decrease is mainly due to the decline observed in the production of the non-metal mineral product manufacturing sector (-5.6%) following the decrease recorded in cement production.
Production also dropped in the energy products extraction sector by 13.4%, mainly due to the decline in crude oil production.
In contrast, production increased in the non-energy extraction sector (+ 20%) following the rise in crude phosphate production (3.546 million tons in the first nine months of 2017 against 2,531 million tons during the same period of the previous year).
On the other hand, industrial production posted a 2.9% growth in the mechanical and electrical industry sector, the rubber and plastic industry sector went up 4.1% and the petroleum refining industry (+ 2.8%).
