Bulgaria's industrial production has grown with a marginal 1% in March 2012 with respect to February, but dropped 3.2% with respect to March 2011.
According to data by Bulgaria's National Statistical Institute, the stall is due largely to the energy sector which in March dropped by 9.9% with respect to February and with 14.3% with respect to March 2011.
Significant growth has been marked in a number of sectors, including production of items from non-metal minerals (34% up), the paper industry (25% up), chemical industry (15.1% up), production of beverages (9.6% up), and production of electric appliances (6.8% up).
In addition to the energy sector, significant drops for March have been recorded in the production of metals (27% down), installation of equipment (10.9% down), and pharmaceuticals production (2.8% down).
On a yearly basis, the largest growth has been the production of tobacco products (30% up), chemicals (25% up), and machines and equipment (22% up).
The largest drops with respect to March 2012 have been in the production of metals (24.5% down), shoes (20% down), and textile (12.3% down).