The index level for Norwegian manufacturing in the third quarter of 2022 amounted to 118.9 (2005=100). The corresponding figure for the previous quarter was 118.4. The long-term trend has been more stable in the last few months (see figure 1).

Figure 1. Production development in manufacturing. Seasonally adjusted and smoothed seasonally adjusted figures¹. 2005=100

¹ March 2020 to March 2022 are specified as outliers in the seasonal adjustment routine. Hence, this period are not included in the figure.

Three-month change: strong increase within refined petroleum, chemicals and pharmaceuticals

According to In order to facilitate the interpretation of the short-term development, the index of production publishes three-month moving averages of the seasonally-adjusted figures. We normally compare the latest non-overlapping three-month periods. Seasonally-adjusted monthly changes must be interpreted with caution., manufacturing output had an increase of 0.4 per cent in the third quarter of 2022 compared to the previous quarter. The industry grouping refined petroleum, chemicals and pharmaceuticals contributed the most to overall output growth with a large increase of 9.3 per cent. This can be seen in connection with instances of maintenance shutdowns in businesses within the industry in the second quarter and following normalization in the current third quarter. There was also growth within the industry for food products.   

On the other hand, the overall output increase was dampened by a fall of 5.3 per cent within the industry grouping rubber, plastic and mineral products.