Socio-economic development of the Kaliningrad Region in January-April 2010 has demonstrated positive trends in industrial production, nominal wages, real income of the population, and the volume of paid services.
In general, the index of industrial production amounted to 140.1%, manufacturing index went up by 58.5%, and production of electricity, gas and water – by 8.1%. During the same period, the volume of construction work in constant prices fell by 24.4%, retail trade - by 1.2%. As of May 1, 2010, 17.8 thousand people were unemployed (which constitutes the unemployment rate of 3.8%), while consumer price index (CPI) for December 2009 – April 2010 was 103.0%.
Industrial production
Industrial production index in January-April 2010 compared to the same period of 2009 amounted to 140.1% (the average rate in Russia for the same period was 106.9%).
In general, in April the industrial production in the Kaliningarad region went up by 3.3% (with the Russian average of 10.4%).
Businesses involved in the monitoring conducted by the Kaliningrad branch of the Bank of Russia noted the following trends: economic outlook in the region has improved markedly; there was also an increase in the demand for manufactured products (services) of enterprises in domestic and foreign markets; the number of orders has gone up and the situation in the field of payments and transactions has improved.
There was a noticeable increase in the share of enterprises (operating in the field of livestock, fishery, transport, production and distribution of electricity, gas and water supply, food production, including drinks, companies engaged in real estate transactions, renting and business activities) which rated their economic situation as "good". However, the share of companies which rated their economic situation as "bad" increased among the enterprises of wood processing and manufacturing of wood products (except furniture), and fabricated metal products.
The index of manufacturing industry in January-April constituted 158.5% (compared to 77.6% in the corresponding period of 2009). Manufacturing in the Russian Federation on average rose by 8.3%.
The Growth in manufacturing activity is registered in nearly all types of activities except for wood processing and production of wood products (which suffered a decline of 23%).
The highest growth was recorded in chemical manufacturing (5.1 times), production of vehicles and equipment (2.1 times), electrical and optical equipment (2 times), machinery and equipment (1.8 times). Manufacturing of food products increased by 18.1%, production of construction materials - by 18.3%, pulp and paper - by 30.5%.
Construction
In January-April 3384.7 million roubles worth of works were performed in the field of construction. That is 33.6% less than in the same period of 2009 (on average in the Russian Federation the decline in construction amounted to 6.2 %).
In the reporting period of 2010, 128.6 thousand square meters of residential housing were commissioned, which is a 25.7% drop compared to January-April 2009.
Agriculture
The gross production in agriculture in Q1, 2010 amounted to 1,847.1 million roubles, which is 19.9% more than in the same period of 2009.
Consumer market
According to the assessment of territorial branch of the Federal State Statistics Service in the Kaliningrad region, retail trade in January-April 2010 amounted to 26,640.1 million roubles, which is 1.2% lower than in January-April 2009.
Sales of non-food goods grew by 2.3%; sales of food products, by contrast, fell by 4%.
In the 4 months of 2010 the volume of paid services rendered was estimated to amount to 9,302.4 million rubles, which is 0.9% more than in January-April 2009 (in comparable prices).
Kaliningrad Regional Customs summed up the results for the first half of 2010. The article provides information on the main indicators of Kaliningrad region's foreign trade.