Turkey’s industrial output surges as TÜİK changes base year in calculation

ANKARA

Turkey’s calendar-adjusted industrial production surged 12 percent in January compared to the same month last year, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) announced on March 16. 

This is the first industrial data set released since the TÜIK changed its reference year from 2010 to 2015 and started to use more comprehensive data sets from a larger number of companies, the statistics agency said.

“The 2010=100 based Industrial Production Index, which was published between 2013 and 2017, was calculated using survey data from approximately 5,000 companies. As of March 2018, Revenue Administration micro data has been used to produce more comprehensive data sets, to reduce respondent burden and to make public resources more efficient. The Industrial Production Index with 2015=100 reference year is calculated with the production values from approximately 7,000 companies and the production value estimates obtained from the sales of more than 300,000 firms from the Revenue Administration,” the TÜİK said in a separate statement on March 16.

Science, Industry and Technology Minister Faruk Özlü said industrial output had exceeded estimates for January, noting that the new data would help estimate growth figures more accurately.

“According to the updated figures, Turkey has kept growing in a robust manner driven by the industrial sectors,” he said in a written statement.

Among three main sub-indexes, the mining and quarrying index saw the highest annual increase in January, with 14 percent. The manufacturing index rose 12.3 percent, while the electricity, gas, steam, and air conditioning supply index was up 3.2 percent during the same period.

However, on a monthly basis industrial production dropped slightly to 0.8 percent in January 2018, according to TÜİK data.

Among the sub-sectors of the seasonally and calendar-adjusted industrial sector, the mining and quarrying index also posted the highest monthly rise. The mining and quarrying index climbed 5.2 percent in January 2018 compared to December 2017.

The manufacturing index, however, fell 1.2 percent in the month compared to December 2017.