Eurozone industrial production rose for a fourth month in August, signalling a recovery from the worst recession since World War II.

The EU statistics office Eurostat, said today that in the month of August, seasonally adjusted industrial production grew by 0.9% in the Eurozone (EA16) and by 0.6% in the EU27. In July production increased by 0.2% and 0.3% respectively.

In the 12 months to August, industrial production fell by 15.4% in the Eurozone and by 13.5% in the EU27.

Monthly comparison

In August, production of durable consumer goods increased by 5.3% in the Eurozone and by 4.5% in the EU27. Capital goods grew by 1.1% and 1.3% respectively. Intermediate goods rose by 0.5% in the Eurozone and by 0.6% in the EU27. Production of energy increased by 0.5% in the Eurozone and remained stable in the EU27. Non-durable consumer goods declined by 1.3% and 0.7% respectively.

Among the Member States for which data are available, industrial production rose in eleven and fell in ten. The highest increases were registered in Italy (+7.0%), Portugal (+5.2%) and Slovenia (+4.9%), and the most significant falls in Ireland (-16.7%), Lithuania (-4.2%) and Luxembourg (-3.0%).

Annual comparison

In the year to August, production of non-durable consumer goods fell by 4.4% in the Eurozone and by 3.0% in the EU27. Production of energy decreased by 6.0% and 6.2% respectively. Intermediate goods declined by 19.5% in the Eurozone and by 18.0% in the EU27. Durable consumer goods dropped by 20.6% and 16.4% respectively. Capital goods fell by 22.3% in the Eurozone and by 19.7% in the EU27.

Industrial production fell in all Member States for which data are available. The largest decreases were registered in Estonia (-27.9%), Luxembourg (-27.4%), Finland (-21.4%) and Sweden (-19.2%), and the smallest in Poland (-2.5%), Romania (-4.4%), the Netherlands (-6.4%) and Portugal (-6.6%).

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).

Tables