Industrial production remained strong in October, running 18.3 per cent in volume ahead of the same month in 1996. Seasonally-adjusted figures from the Central Statistics Office indicate that production for the three months ending October 1997 is 5.9 per cent above that for the three months ended July.

While the seasonally-adjusted total showed a slight 1.4 per cent fall from October, the overall trend is still strongly upwards.

A small number of sectors contributed to the 12-month rise, with pharmaceuticals accounting for two-fifths of the overall rise, followed by the electrical engineering sector, which contributed over a quarter and the office and data processing machinery sector, which accounted for nearly one-seventh of the rise.