The industrial production index rose 7% in the first quarter of 2006 over the same period last year, against a 5.9% year-on-year rise in the fourth quarter of 2005, the Census & Statistics Department says.

The producer price index rose 2.1% in the first quarter, compared with the 1.1% year-on-year rise in the fourth quarter last year.

Compared with a year earlier, the apparel (except footwear) industry saw the largest increase in output (+35.8%), followed by the textiles (including knitting) industry (+11.3%), the chemical, rubber, plastic and non-metallic mineral products industry (+10.2%), the food, beverages and tobacco industry (+5.8%), the paper products and printing industry (+3.4%), and the electrical and electronic products, machinery, professional equipment and optical goods industry (+2.3%).

Falls in output were recorded for the basic metals and fabricated metal products industry (-0.5%).

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the index of industrial production for the manufacturing sector as a whole fell 0.9% in the first quarter as compared with the fourth quarter of 2005.

Producer price increases were seen in the fabricated metal products (except machinery and equipment) industry (+9.5%), wearing apparel (except footwear) industry (+0.9%), and the consumer electrical and electronic products industry (+0.1%).

Falls in producer prices were recorded for the machinery, equipment, apparatus, parts and components industry (-11.5%), the plastic products industry (-1.6%), and the textiles (including knitting) industry (-0.4%), while producer prices for the paper products and printing industry remained virtually unchanged.