Leather and leather goods production in Azerbaijan rose sharply in January 2002 compared with the previous year while aggregate industrial output was down 2% to 1,528billion manats ($326.7 million), according to figures released by the State Statistics Committee.

Production of leather and leather goods grew 600% while the biggest growth was recorded in the textiles industry (up by a factor of 39). Other risers were the chemicals industry (output up 160%) and production of timber (up 89.9%).

The main negatives were for optical and electrical equipment (down 82.1%), machinery and other equipment (down 37.5%), rubbers and plastics (29.3%), oil products (24.4%) and metals (23.7%).

In 2001 as a whole, industrial output grew 5.1% in current prices to 17.626 billion manats ($3.77 billion).