While the government boasts about the growth of industrial output, another figure tells a quieter but more honest story - the number of workers in industry is falling in almost every sector. Production may be rising, but ever fewer hands are doing it.

According to the State Statistical Office, in the January-April 2026 period the number of industrial workers fell by 3 percent compared to the same period last year. In April alone, the drop was 2.3 percent year on year.

Mining takes the biggest hit - a decline of 6.8 percent. Manufacturing lost 2.2 percent of its workers. The only sector with growth is the supply of electricity, gas and steam - a modest plus 1 percent.

And by product group the picture is in the red: energy -1.6, capital goods -2.3, durable consumer goods -3.1, intermediate goods -2.8 percent. The only bright detail is durable consumer goods with a symbolic 0.6 percent growth.

This is where two truths collide that the government is reluctant to set side by side. On one hand - industrial output in April jumped by 7.6 percent. On the other - the number of people creating that output is falling. Does that mean greater efficiency and automation, or simply that jobs are quietly vanishing while the production statistics look good? The answer to that question is worth more than any percentage in a press release.