Sweden Industrial Production Falls Further By 2.5%, Construction Recovers

(RTTNews) - Sweden's industrial production contracted for the second straight month in December, data from Statistics Sweden showed on Wednesday.

Industrial production fell a calendar-adjusted 2.5 percent year-over-year in December, following a 0.6 percent drop in August.

The latest downward trend was driven primarily by the pulp and paper industry, which plunged 19.3 percent from the previous year.

Services growth, excluding financial and insurance services, edged down 0.1 percent in December, reversing a 2.0 percent increase a month ago.

At the same time, the construction output rebounded 3.3 percent from November, when it decreased by 0.4 percent.

Separate data from the statistical office showed that industrial orders recovered sharply by 24.9 percent annually in December, after a 7.0 percent fall in the prior month. Domestic demand rose 14.5 percent, while foreign orders surged 33.9 percent.

On a monthly basis, industrial orders increased a seasonally adjusted 25.1 percent at the end of the year.

"It was mainly the industry for transport equipment that contributed to the development both monthly and year-on-year," Frida Olsson, statistician at Statistics Sweden, said.