OREANDA-NEWS. February 03, 2014. Preliminary data released by Statistics Estonia today indicate that industrial production was up by 3 percent last year compared with 2012 thanks to increased sales on both the domestic and foreign markets.

Export sales, which accounted for more than 70 percent of the nation's output, saw gains of 5 percent compared with the prior year, while domestic demand was up 4 percent.

Most branches of production showed increases, though the main drivers were electronics and wood products, up 6 percent each, and food products, up 3 percent. Manufacture of metal products, electrical equipment and motor vehicles showed a decline.

In nine individual months, production numbers were moderately better than those of the equivalent month of 2012, with the exceptions being August, which was on the same level, and September and December, the only months of decline.

December's total was down by 6 percent year-on-year, mainly due to declines in electricity production (-23 percent) and heat production (-28 percent). Some of the former can be accounted for by the replacement of homegrown electricity with imports, but the unseasonably warm weather undoubtedly also played a role in the overall decrease in energy output.