Euro area industrial production down in September

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - Seasonally adjusted industrial production fell by 0.3 percent in the Euro Area (EA19) and by 0.2 percent in the EU28 in September, compared to August, the statistical office of the European Union announced on Wednesday.

In August 2018, industrial production rose by 1.1 percent in EA19 and 0.8 percent in EU28 zones, on a monthly basis, according to Eurostat's statement.

Eurostat underlined the decrease of 0.3 percent in the euro area stemmed from fallings in the production of energy (1.7 percent), non-durable consumer goods (1.3), durable consumer goods (0.7), and intermediate goods (0.3).

The production of capital goods saw only an increment with 0.3 percent in September in the Euro Area.

The EU28's drop is also due to the decrease in production of non-durable consumer goods (1 percent), energy (0.9), durable consumer goods (0.6), and intermediate goods (0.3).

Meanwhile, in the month, production of capital goods rose by 0.1 percent in the EU28.

"Among Member States for which data are available, the largest decreases in industrial production were registered in Latvia (3.3 percent), Lithuania (3.1 percent) and Portugal (2.8 percent). The highest increases were observed in Denmark (2.8 percent), Ireland (2.2 percent) and the Netherlands (1.2 percent)," the Eurostat said.

- Annual comparison

Eurostat also said industrial production has increased by 0.9 percent in Euro Area and 1.1 percent in EU28 in September, compared with the same month of 2017.

In the euro area, production of capital goods rose by 2.5 percent and non-durable consumer goods by 1.6 percent, while production of intermediate goods, energy, and durable consumer goods saw a decline by 0.3 percent, 1.4 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively, in September.

In this period, the EU 28's production of capital goods rose by 2.4 percent, non-durable consumer goods by 1.8 percent, and intermediate goods by 0.2 percent, while production of energy and durable consumer goods posted declines with 1 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively.

Ireland, Poland and Denmark registered the highest increases with 9.4 percent, 5 percent and 4.3 percent, respectively, while Malta, Croatia and the Netherlands saw biggest declines with 5.3 percent, 2.6 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively.

Meanwhile, according to a flash estimate of Eurostat, GDP -- gross domestic product -- rose by 1.7 percent in the Euro Area and 1.9 percent in the EU28, year-on-year in the third quarter of 2018.