Argentine industrial activity rose 7.7% year-on-year in 2005, the national statistics institute INDEC said on January 18, 2006.
The year-on-year rise in 2005 was attributed mainly to the automobile sector, whose activity rose 26.7%. The exports of the automobile sector increased 24.2 % in 2005, while domestic sales jumped 29.1 %. The rise was also partially explained with the good performance of the country's construction sector. Only cigarettes output and petrol refining registered decreases, of 6.4 % and 0.1 %, respectively.
Industrial activity rose for the third consecutive year after Argentina suffered a strong economic crisis in 2001 and 2002.
The industrial activity of Argentina rose 0.5 % month-on-month and 7.9 % year-on-year in December 2005.
Industrial activity rose 16.3 % year-on-year in 2003 and 10.7 % year-on-year in 2004.
At the end of December 2005 the utilisation of the installed capacity in the industrial sector stood at 69 %.