The industrial production index rose 5.9% in the fourth quarter of 2005 over the same perioed a year earlier, against a 4.1% year-on-year rise in the third quarter, the Census & Statistics Department says.

The producer price index rose 1.1% in the fourth quarter, compared with the 0.8% year-on-year rise in the third quarter.

Compared with a year earlier, increases in output were recorded for all manufacturing industries surveyed. The electrical and electronic products, machinery, professional equipment and optical goods industry saw the largest increase in output (+10.6%), followed by chemical, rubber, plastic and non-metallic mineral products (+9.5%), textiles including knitting (+8.7%), paper products and printing (+4.7%), basic metals and fabricated metal products (+4.1%), food, beverages and tobacco (+3.3%), and apparel (except footwear) (+1.3%).

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the index of industrial production for the manufacturing sector as a whole rose 3.5% in the fourth quarter, over the third. For 2005 as a whole, the index rose by 2.5% on 2004.

Producer price increases were seen in the apparel (except footwear) industry (+4.6%), followed by fabricated metal products (except machinery and equipment) (+4.3%), consumer electrical and electronic products (+3.9%), and plastic products (+1.9%).

Falls in producer prices were recorded for the machinery, equipment, apparatus, parts and components industry (-1.2%), paper products and printing (-0.7%), and textiles including knitting (-0.5%) in the fourth quarter compared with a year earlier.

Comparing the fourth quarter with the same period in 2004, the producer price index for the manufacturing sector fell 0.3%.