According to preliminary information, last February the Imacec rose 6.8% over the same month a year before (figure 1). The seasonally-adjusted series fell 0.7% with respect to the previous month, and rose 6.0% in twelve months. The month came with the same number of working days as February 2021.

The Imacec result was explained by increased services activity. Trade also contributed positively to the month’s result, while goods production dropped, affected mainly by mining (figure 2).

In seasonally-adjusted terms, all the Imacec components fell, most notably services (figure 3).

Imacec analysis by activity

1. Goods production

Goods production dropped 4.5%, explained by the 6.4% drop in mining, followed by the 2.6% drop in manufacturing activity. The other goods category increased 0.6%.

Seasonally-adjusted, goods production dropped 0.5% with respect to the previous month, mainly explained by the fall in the manufacturing industry.

2. Trade

Trade activity rose 5.5%, driven mainly by retail sales of stores specializing in clothes, footwear and home equipment, and supermarkets, and to a lesser extent, automotive sales.

The seasonally-adjusted figures show a fall of 0.5% with respect to the previous month, explained mainly by the performance of wholesale trade.

3. Services

Services increased 14.6%, explained by the performance of personal services. Transportation, entrepreneurial services, and restaurants & hotels also contributed to the group’s results.

Seasonally-adjusted, services posted a 1.2% drop with respect to the previous month.

Considering the challenges posed by the sanitary crisis on the collection of basic data, the Central Bank of Chile has made extra efforts with its information providers to minimize the impact on the quality of statistics. It is worth noting, however, that the figures published on this occasion may by subject to more revisions than has been the case historically, which will be released in accordance with the National Accounts calendar of publications and revisions available on the Bank’s website www.bcentral.cl