World manufacturing output grew by 2.2 per cent in
2012, significantly lower than the 3.1 per cent projected midway through last
year.
This and other key findings are revealed by the
latest annual figures on the level, structure and growth of world industrial
production contained in the 2013 edition of the International Yearbook of
Industrial Statistics, published by the United Nations Industrial Development
Organization (UNIDO).
The Yearbook provides internationally comparable
data for major indicators of manufacturing activity which can be used to
analyze patterns of growth and related long term trends, structural change and
industrial performance in individual industries.
It is the only international publication that offers
economists, planners, policymakers and business people worldwide statistics on
current performance and trends in the manufacturing sector.
The new publication shows that the world’s
industrialized countries experienced particularly low manufacturing value added
(MVA) growth, with some dynamism in North America and East Asia was largely
negated by the sustained recession in Europe. MVA of industrialized countries
grew at an average rate of just 0.3 per cent in 2012.
According to the Yearbook, the global economic
crisis beginning in 2009 has not only forced huge job cuts in the manufacturing
sector of industrialized countries but has also pulled labour productivity
down.
Net
manufacturing output in the world’s eight major industrialized economies (G-8)
has fallen by a much higher rate than the number of employees, reflecting the
fact that many businesses retain a skeleton workforce even during periods when
there are no or few orders for their products.
Developing and emerging industrial economies in
general maintained a strong rate of MVA growth in 2012, despite some
deceleration in industrial production due to a decrease in demand for exports.
Developing and emerging industrial economies’ combined share of world MVA in
2012 stood at 35 per cent.
In longer run, the industrialized countries’ share
of world MVA will remain high, as economic progress will mean that more
countries will be elevated into the group of industrialized economies.
The 2013 edition of the Yearbook includes revised
country groups, with Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar among new
entrants to the group of industrialized economies.
The Yearbook also highlights MVA growth trends in
the least developed countries (LDCs), which are facing different constraints
related to external trade.
In comparison with African LDCs, Asian LDCs have the
advantage of closer proximity to fast-growing economies, and this is reflected
by an average MVA growth rate over the last decade of 8.7 per cent per annum
for Asian LDCs compared to 5.9 per cent for African LDCs.
The International Yearbook of Industrial Statistics
presents detailed, country-specific, business structure statistics, which
provide empirical evidence for formulating industrial policy and carrying out
comparative analysis of structural change and productivity.
UNIDO maintains an international industrial
statistics database covering mining and quarrying, manufacturing and the
international trade of manufactured goods.
Ends.
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