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Worldwide industrial production from 2008 to 2022

Industrial production of industrialized countries grows unevenly in 2022, mixed picture for BRIC, growth for MIST

The worldwide industrial production is highlighted by four reports. This report investigates the worldwide industrial production and its outlook from the outbreak of the world economic crisis to 2022. A report keeps on track of the quarterly trends. A further report deals with the structural changes in the course of the industrial production and finally a report highlights the yearly growth in the global economy.

Update May 22nd, 2023 – The background for the worldwide industrial production in year 2022 provides the following facts and trends:

  • The worldwide industrial production is analyzed for groups of countries that absorb 79% of machine exports from Germany. Those are the three groups industrialized countries (European Union, the USA, and Japan), BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China) and MIST countries (Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea and Turkey).

  • Our reports for these three country groups identify those trends based on periods ranging from fifteen to forty years that are determining today. So five structural changes coin the current situation of the worldwide industrial production today.

  • These five structural changes are in keywords: 1. shorter sequence of economic crises since 2000, 2. deeper crises, 3. longer crisis overcoming, 4. galloping national indebtedness and 5. instead of a general upward business trend as it is common after a crisis, non-uniform crisis overcoming with coexisting of growth, stagnation and setback of industrial production producing a stagnant total tendency.

Industrial production in the industrialized countries declining in 2019/2020

Symbol picture industrialized countries.

The group of industrialized countries takes 59% of the German machine exports.


Its industrial production increased lastly in 2018, then declined in 2019 and 2020 by rates ranging from almost 8% to 12.5% for 2020 to 2018.

  • In the USA the industrial production declined 2020 to 2018 by 7.8% to an eight-year low, lower than in 2012.

  • In Germany industrial production suffers a strong decline with 11.8% to a nine-year low, lower than in 2011.

  • Industrial production in the European Union declines by 7.2% to a five-year low, lower than in 2015. This is also influenced by Brexit.

  • Japan's industrial production plunges the most by 12.5% to a ten-year low, lower than in 2010.
Industrial production in the industrialized countries from 2008 to 2022.

Is the Corona pandemic to blame for the decline in industrial production?

We remember. The Corona pandemic started in China at the end of 2019.


However, industrial production in developed countries felt uniformly in 2019 to 2018, with its index falling by 0.2 index points in the EU, 0.7 in the US, 2.7 in Japan and 3.3 in Germany. 


And the annual growth rates of industrial production since the last global economic crisis of 2008/2009 was overcome in the countries already signals stagnation and decline, as the report in this magazine points out. So industrial production in the U.S. grew by mere 0.3% p.a. since 2013, in the EU by 1.0% p.a. since 2011, and declined in Germany by -0,04% p.a. since 2011 and in Japan by -0.5% p.a. since 2010.


These years of stagnation finally prepared the decline of industrial production in developed countries in 2019. The Corona pandemic exacerbated but did not cause the further crisis-like decline in 2020.

Industrial production of the BRIC countries with mixed picture of growth and set back

Symbol picture BRIC countries.

Industrial production in the BRIC countries, which account for 14% of machinery exports from Germany, shows a mixed picture:

 

  • India’s industrial production grows by 4.5% to the highest level since 2008.

  • Russia’s industrial production grows by 5.3% 2021 to 2020. There is no data on 2022.

  • Finally Brazil's industrial production decreases by 0.6% to a level that was only undercut in 2020 and 2016.
Industrial production in the BRIC countries from 2008 to 2022.

The Corona pandemic was brought under control in China in such a way that it did not push industrial production into negative territory in 2020.

Industrial production of the MIST countries grows in 2022 to 2021

Symbol picture MIST countries.

MIST countries with 6% share at the machine export grow consistently in 2022 to 2021.

  • In Turkey industrial production grows by 6.2% 2022 to 2021.

  • Indonesia's industrial production grows by 5.1%.

  • South Korea's industrial production grows by 1.4%.
  • Mexico's industrial production increases by 1.7%.
Industrial production in Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea und Turkey (MIST) from 2008 to 2022.

The development of industrial production in these countries, which absorb 79% of machinery exports from Germany, forms the background for the declining foreign sales of the German machinery industry in 2020, which exceeds the level of 2019 only in 2022. The report on domestic and foreign sales shows this.