Illustrative image (source: Internet)

Due to the number of working days in February this year being eight days less than that of 2020 along with the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic in some localities, the industrial production index was estimated to have decreased compared to January as well as compared to the same period of 2020.

However, industrial production index in January increased significantly, so for the first two months of the year, the industrial production index still increased by 7.4% over the same period last year.

Manufacturing recorded the largest gain at 10.4%, followed by an increase of 4.3% in power generation and distribution.

Water supply and waste treatment climbed 4.8% while mining and quarrying declined by 2.7%.

Many key industries also witnessed a high increase in the production index in the first two months, including: metal production, up 30.3%; manufacturing electronic products, computers and optical products, up 21.2%; electrical equipment manufacturing, up 17.5%; metal ore mining up 14.9%; and manufacturing of other non-metallic mineral products, up 11.9%.