In the month of December 2009, Eurozone (EA16) industrial producer price index rose by 0.1% and remained stable in the EU27. In November, prices increased by 0.2% in both zones.In the year to December 2009, industrial producer prices fell by 2.9% in the Eurozone and by 1.7% in the EU27. The average industrial producer price index for 2009, compared with 2008, decreased by 5.1% in the Eurozone and by 4.3% in the EU27. These figures come from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. German retail-sales volumes rose 0.8% in December from a month earlier, boosted by holiday-season spending on consumer goods and services, Destatis, the federal statistics office said Tuesday.

Irish prices fell 0.1% in December and were down 1.4% in 2009. Irish manufacturing is dominated by US firms and movements of the euro against the US dollar, have a big impact on factory gate prices.

Monthly changes: In December, prices in total industry excluding the energy sector remained stable in the Eurozone and rose by 0.1% in the EU27. Prices in the energy sector fell by 0.2% and 0.7% respectively. In both zones, intermediate goods, durable and non-durable consumer goods all increased by 0.1%. Capital goods gained 0.1% in the Eurozone and 0.3% in the EU27.

Among Member States for which data are available, the highest increases in the total index were recorded in Bulgaria (+0.9%), Sweden (+0.8%), Lithuania (+0.6%) and Latvia (+0.5%). The largest decreases were observed in Malta (-0.7%) and Denmark (-0.6%).

Annual changes:In December 2009, compared with December 2008, prices in total industry excluding the energy sector decreased by 2.3% in the Eurozone and by 1.7% in the EU27. Prices in the energy sector fell by 5.6% and 2.6% respectively. Intermediate goods declined by 3.4% in the Eurozone and by 2.9% in the EU27. Non-durable consumer goods dropped by 2.3% and 1.4% respectively. Capital goods fell by 0.5% in the Eurozone and by 0.2% in the EU27. Durable consumer goods rose by 0.5% and 0.9% respectively.

Among Member States for which data are available, the largest decreases in the total index were observed in Latvia (-10.1%), Malta (-8.8%), Lithuania (-5.6%), the Netherlands (-5.5%), Germany (-5.2%) and Slovakia (-5.1%). The highest increases were observed in Greece (+4.5%), Romania (+3.6%) and the United Kingdom (+3.2%).

The Eurozone (EA16) includes Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland.

The EU27 includes Belgium (BE), Bulgaria (BG), the Czech Republic (CZ), Denmark (DK), Germany (DE), Estonia (EE), Ireland (IE), Greece (EL), Spain (ES), France (FR), Italy (IT), Cyprus (CY), Latvia (LV), Lithuania (LT), Luxembourg (LU), Hungary (HU), Malta (MT), the Netherlands (NL), Austria (AT), Poland (PL), Portugal (PT), Romania (RO), Slovenia (SI), Slovakia (SK), Finland (FI), Sweden (SE) and the United Kingdom (UK).

German retail sales

Despite the rise in December, German retail sales dipped sales 1.8% in 2009 in unadjusted terms on a year-to-year basis, signalling that GDP (gross domestic product) did not grow very strongly in Q4 2009.