Industrial production down in EU, stable in eurozone in February

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - The industrial production index was stable in the euro area in February but posted a decline on the EU side, Eurostat data showed on Thursday.

On both a yearly and monthly basis, industrial production was stable in the eurozone and fell by 0.2% in the EU.

On a monthly basis, industrial production in the euro area rose 1.6% for intermediate goods, and 0.5% for capital goods while dropping 3.1% for non-durable consumer goods, 1.2% for energy, and 0.2% for durable consumer goods.

On the EU side, the index climbed 1.5% for intermediate goods and 0.1% for capital goods while falling 4.1% for non-durable consumer goods, 2.0% for energy, and 0.3% for durable consumer goods.

Among member states, the highest monthly increases year-on-year in February were seen in Lithuania (4.6%), Portugal (3.7%) and Austria (3.3%) and the largest drops were in Malta (12.9%), Denmark (10.6%), and Slovakia (7.3%).

On a yearly basis, the largest annual drops were in Slovakia (5.1%), Denmark (4.4%) and Hungary (4.0%), and the largest jumps were seen in Ireland (10.4%), Lithuania (9.8%) and Croatia (7.6%).

The eurozone/euro area, or EA20, represents member states that use the bloc’s single currency, the euro, while the EU27 includes all member countries.