MOSCOW, November 18 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's industrial output increased 1.6% year-on-year in October and 5% in January-October 2008, the country's top statistics body said on Tuesday.
Russia's Economic Development Ministry said the country's low industrial output in October, the lowest since January 2007, was due to the ongoing global financial crisis.
"We expected this figure to be worse," a ministry spokesman said.
Russian oil output dropped 0.6% year-on-year to 406 million metric tons (2.98 billion bbl) in the first ten months of 2008, the federal statistics service said.
Natural gas production stood at 540 bln cu m in the reporting period, up 1.4% against January-October 2007.
Crude output also fell 0.7%, while natural gas production increased 0.4% in October 2008.
