Manufacturing production in Hong Kong rose by 1.3 percent year-on-year in the last quarter of 2018, following a 1.2 percent gain in the previous period. Output went up further for miscellaneous goods & services (2.1 percent from 1.3 percent in Q3) and sewerage, waste management & remediation activities (4.8 percent from 3.2 percent). Also, production dropped less for textiles & wearing apparel (-2.9 percent from -3.4 percent) and paper products, printing & reproduction of recorded media (-0.8 percent from -2.3 percent). On the other hand, output growth slowed for food, beverages & tobacco (3.3 percent from 3.7 percent) and fell at a faster pace for metal, computer, electronic & optical products, machinery & equipment (-3.3 percent from -2.0 percent). Considering full 2018, manufacturing production increased 1.3 percent compared to a 0.4 percent rise in 2017. Industrial Production in Hong Kong averaged -1.78 percent from 1999 until 2018, 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 2.70 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 1.90 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.