Seasonally adjusted data showed that industrial output in September 2014 went up by 4.6% from August 2014, while according to working day-adjusted data it increased by 3.8% in comparison with September 2013.
This marked a sharp reversal from August when production sank by 4.7% annually, the largest drop in 15 months.
The figure was much better than expected. Four economic analysts polled by Hina had forecast an average annual decline of industrial production by 1.1%, their projections ranging from -2.5% to +0.7%.
In the first nine months of the year industrial production gained 0.6% in relation to the corresponding period of 2013.
"After five consecutive years of decline, 2014 might see a very modest positive growth rate in the volume of industrial production, by 0.5% annually. More noticeable growth will continue to be subdued by a slowdown of recovery in the European Union and consequently by lower demand for Croatian products as well as by the lack of recovery of domestic demand due to labour market weaknesses," analysts at Raiffeisenbank Austria said in their comments on the DZS report.