Industrial production expanded 3.1 per cent in September after recording a contraction in the preceding month as all three major segments — mining, manufacturing and power generation — showed improvement.

However, the growth in the index of industrial production (IIP) during the month was lower than 6.4 per cent in September 2023.

The factory output had turned negative in August at (-) 0.1 per cent, mainly on account of floods affecting mining operations in the different parts of the country.

According to the data released by the National Statistics Office (NSO), mining sector output grew by 0.2 per cent, manufacturing production by 3.9 per cent and electricity output by 0.5 per cent in the month of September 2024.

In August, the mining sector output contracted 4.3 per cent and power generation 3.7 per cent. The growth in manufacturing was 1.1 per cent.

The capital goods segment growth decelerated to 2.8 per cent in September 2024 from 8.4 per cent a year ago.