EU industrial production down 5% in last year

(CN) — Industrial production in the European Union dropped more than 5% over the last year, according to data published by Eurostat on Monday.

While the year-over-year decrease between February 2023 and 2024 reached 5.4%, the month-to-month drop in production was less drastic. Industrial production declined less than 1% between the first two months of the year.

"The index of industrial production measures the evolution of the volume of production for industry excluding construction, based on data adjusted for calendar and seasonal effects," Eurostat said in the report.

Eurostat uses rates of production in 2021 as a baseline.

Industrial production dropped an astounding 72% in April 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic drove European nations into lockdown. Production recovered to rates similar to baseline by that November.

Since peaking in January 2023, industrial production has been trending downward across the EU, with the 20 member states that use the euro as currency faring slightly worse than the body at large.

Industrial production dropped among all sectors between 2023 and 2024, with production of capital goods falling the most, 7.5%.

The monthly decrease in production was largely driven by energy, which declined 3.3% between January and February. Industrial production of intermediate goods, capital goods and durable consumer goods all increased over the same period.

With near 4% increases in production, Ireland and Hungary reported the highest monthly gains. Ireland however also reported the lowest annual decrease, down 36% from 2023.

Croatia reported the greatest monthly decreases in industrial production, down 4.6%, followed by Lithuania and Belgium, each down by about 3%.

Spain, Slovenia and Denmark all reported the greatest annual increases in industrial production, about 3% each.

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