Czech Industrial Output Falls Further, Trade Surplus Grows

(RTTNews) - The Czech Republic's industrial production decreased for the third straight month in December, while trade surplus increased as exports grew faster than imports, separate reports from the Czech Statistical Office revealed on Thursday.

Industrial production declined a working-day-adjusted 3.0 percent year-on-year in December, following a 2.7 percent fall in November. The expected fall was 3.5 percent.

Among sectors, mining and quarrying contracted the most by 14.7 percent from last year, and manufacturing output dropped by 3.1 percent. Meanwhile, the positive contribution came from the utility segment, where production advanced by 0.2 percent.

On a monthly basis, industrial output expanded by 0.7 percent in December.

Construction output advanced 9.7 percent annually and by 4.5 percent monthly in December.

In a separate report, the Czech Statistical Office said the trade surplus of the country rose to CZK 6.8 billion in December from CZK 4.6 billion in the corresponding month last year.

In November, the trade balance showed a surplus of CZK 21.67 billion.

Exports surged 9.1 percent year-on-year in December, and imports climbed by 8.5 percent.

During the year 2024, the total trade balance of the country was CZK 223.2 billion in surplus, up from CZK 122.5 billion in 2023. Both exports and imports rose by 4.9 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively.