Macedonia Industrial Output Drops In January

Macedonia’s industrial output dropped a staggering 16.7 percent in January 2009 compared with the same month last year, the State Statistical Office said.

The industry has been marking a steady decline over the past few months due to the global financial downturn. The latest figures show that the situation in the manufacturing sector is the worst, posting a fall of almost 25 percent. The country’s backbone industries, metal, mining and textile production, have been hit hardest.

The situation has improved only in the electricity, gas and water supply sector, marking an increase of over 17 percent.

The Statistical Office noted that company managers surveyes by its officials again asses the current business situation as “most unsatisfactory”, due to the drop in both demand and prices for their products.

The crisis that hit the world economy last year has been felt across the Balkans with many companies already cutting off jobs and production.