Official figures show that manufacturing production in November was up 15.7% compared with the same month in 2009, mainly due to a jump of almost 35% in production of pharmaceutical products.
The Central Statistics Office said the 'modern' sector, which includes a number of high-technology and chemical companies, showed a 21.7% annual increase, while the traditional sector recorded a 3.2% rise.
But production in the three months from September to the end of November was down 3.8% compared with the June-August period.
Bloxham economist Alan McQuaid said the manufacturing sector had done very well over the past 12 months, with the improvement on the indigenous sector since the middle of 2010 particularly encouraging.
'Whatever about the volatility of exchange rate movements, we remain confident that Ireland is ideally placed to take advantage of the global economic upturn, and the indications are that 2011 may be better in terms of world growth than previously expected,' he said.
