Chapter III. Production

Extract

Industrial production rose by about 6½ per cent during 1963, though the flatness in 1962 meant that the year-to-year rise was much smaller—about 3 per cent. The motor industry fared best of all, with a year-to-year rise of nearly a third in the output of cars and nearly a sixth in the output of tractors. Consumer durables recorded a 10 per cent rise, and the cold winter was mainly responsible for a 7 per cent increase in the amount of electricity generated. The only major industry to suffer a big fall in output was shipbuilding, though there was some decline in commercial vehicles, aircraft and railway vehicles. The rise in output during 1963 was rather slower than it had been during 1959. Some industries, including cars and consumer durables, expanded at about the same rate, but in others, such as metals, chemicals, clothing and paper and printing, the pace of advance during 1963 was considerably slower than it had been in the earlier recovery (chart 10).