Industrial production in the rich world collapsed during the crisis. By the time American manufacturing bottomed out in June last year, output was nearly 15% lower than in January 2008. Japan and the euro area saw even steeper declines, as did Brazil. But although growth slowed markedly in China and India, output there never fell below its level at the beginning of 2008. Despite recent growth, factories in America, the euro area and Japan still produce less than they did in January 2008. By contrast, China's output in August was more than a third higher than at the beginning of 2008. Although its industrial growth has also slowed in recent months, annual rates of growth remain well above 10%.