Euro Zone, EU Industrial Production Post Decline On A Monthly Basis In September; Show Year-On-Year Growth

Seasonally-adjusted industrial production fell by 0.5 percent in the 17-nation euro zone and by 0.2 percent in the 28-nation European Union, or EU, in September, compared to a growth of 1 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively, in August, Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU, reported on Wednesday.

Industrial production on a yearly basis rose by 1.1 percent in the euro zone and by 1.2 percent in the EU in September. Analysts had predicted the monthly industrial output to drop by 0.3 percent and on a year-on-year basis to rise by 0.2 percent, in the euro zone.

The drop in monthly industrial production was attributed to a fall in most of the segments except energy. The decline in production was led by durable consumer goods, which fell by 2.6 percent in the euro zone and by 1.6 percent in the EU, data showed. Capital goods rose by 1 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively, while production of intermediate goods fell by 0.8 percent in the euro zone and fell by 0.5 percent in the EU.

Among the EU nations for which data are available, industrial production rose in 13 countries and fell in 12 others on a monthly basis, industrial production rose in 16 countries and dropped in nine on a yearly basis.

On a monthly basis, the largest increases in industrial output were registered in Ireland (+2.9 percent), Romania (+2.4 percent), Hungary (+1.8 percent) and Poland (+1.4 percent), and the largest decreases were in Portugal (-11.2 percent), Luxembourg (-4.1 percent), Croatia (-3.3 percent) and the Czech Republic (-2.8 percent).

Meanwhile, the largest annual decreases were recorded in Luxembourg (-4.0 percent), Croatia (-3.9 percent) and Italy (-3.0 percent), and the highest increases were in Ireland (+11.7 percent), Romania (+8.9 percent), Slovakia (+7.5 percent) and Poland (+5.6 percent), data from Eurostat showed.