Hungary's industrial output fell by an annual 5.3% in August based on preliminary unadjusted data, above analyst forecasts for a 2.7% drop, the Central Statistics Office (KSH) said on Friday.

In July industrial output fell by 2.6%. Adjusted for the effect of working days, output fell by 6.1% year-on-year, while in monthly terms, it shrank by 2.4%, the KSH said. The KSH said the manufacture of electrical equipment grew at the highest rate, while the volume of production fell in the manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products, as well as in that of food products, beverages and tobacco products. In the first eight months of 2023, industrial output fell by 4.6% in annual terms.

INDUSTRIAL OUTPUT CHANGE, % August 2023 July 2023 August 2022 Unadjusted y/y -5.3 -2.6 +14.6 Adjusted y/y -6.1 -2.6 (-2.5) +9.6 Adjusted m/m -2.4 +2.8 +1.1 (+0.7) * revised. Numbers in brackets indicate figures as they were originally reported. (Reporting by Antonis Pothitos and Marta Maciag in Gdansk)