Manufacturing production in Hong Kong rose by 1.4 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2019, following a downwardly revised 1.2 percent gain in the previous period. Miscellaneous manufacturing industries output went up further (2.3 percent vs 2.0 percent in Q4) while metal, computer, electronic & optical products, machinery & equipment production rebounded (0.4 percent vs -3.2 percent). Additionally, textiles & wearing apparel output dropped less (-0.1 percent vs -2.9 percent). On the other hand, production rose at a softer pace for sewerage, waste management & remediation activities (1.4 percent vs 5.0 percent) and for food, beverages and tobacco (2.0 percent vs 3.2 percent) while paper products, printing & reproduction of recorded media fell further (-3.3 percent vs -1.0 percent). Industrial Production in Hong Kong averaged -1.74 percent from 1999 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 7.10 percent in the first quarter of 2006 and a record low of -12.50 percent in the second quarter of 2003.
Industrial Production in Hong Kong is expected to be 2.40 percent by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Industrial Production in Hong Kong to stand at 1.50 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the Hong Kong Manufacturing Production is projected to trend around 3.40 percent in 2020, according to our econometric models.