EU: Industrial production slightly up in February

By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA (AA) - The EU's industrial production in February went up 0.3% on a yearly basis, the bloc's statistical office reported Friday.

Eurostat said the calendar-adjusted production index for the industry was 103.4 in February, compared to 103.1 in the same month last year.

"In the EU28, production of non-durable consumer goods rose by 3.1%, durable consumer goods by 0.7%, capital goods by 0.5%, and intermediate goods by 0.4%, while production of energy fell by 4.4%," it said.

Among member states, the highest increase was seen in Poland, up 6.8%, followed by Bulgaria (up 6.6%), and Hungary (up 5.9%).

"The largest decreases in industrial production were registered in Latvia (down 3.1%), Portugal (down 2.9%) and Germany (down 2.0%)," Eurostat said.

Official figures also revealed that industrial production in the euro area saw an annual drop of 0.3% in February.

The eurozone/euro area or EA19 represents member states that use the single currency -- euro -- while the EU28 includes all member countries of the bloc.