Eurozone Industrial Output Falls More Than Expected
(RTTNews) - Eurozone industrial production registered a bigger-than-expected decline in December on sharp falls in capital and intermediate goods output, figures from Eurostat revealed on Thursday.
Industrial output fell 1.1 percent in December from November. The fall was deeper than the forecast of 0.6 percent also reversed the 0.4 percent increase in November.
Among major industrial groupings, only non-durable consumer goods and energy production improved from the last month, up 5.1 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.
Output of capital and intermediate goods slid 2.6 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively. Production of durable consumer goods fell 0.7 percent.
Year-on-year, the fall in industrial production worsened to 2.0 percent from 1.8 percent in November. Economists had forecast a sharper fall of 3.1 percent.
The annual average industrial production for the year 2024 decreased 1.7 percent from the previous year, data showed.
In the EU27, industrial output dropped 0.8 percent on month, taking the annual decrease to 1.7 percent in December.
The largest monthly decreases were recorded in Belgium, Portugal and Austria. Meanwhile, the highest increases were reported in Ireland, Luxembourg and Croatia. Capital Economics' economist said Elias Hilmer said the fall in euro-zone industrial production in December means that the sector contracted again in the fourth quarter. Hilmer noted that production will remain subdued in the coming months and that the structural problems facing the ailing sector are unlikely to fade soon.
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