Industrial production up 0.9% in March

Industrial production increased in March by 0.9% compared to February and by 7.8% on an annual basis. In April, compared with March, seasonally adjusted industrial production rose by 1.1% in the euro area and by 1.3% in the EU28, according to estimates from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

In March, industrial production fell by 0.7% in the euro area and by 0.5% in the EU28. In April compared with April 2015, industrial production increased by 2.0% in the euro area and by 2.5% in the EU28.

The increase of 1.1% in industrial production in the euro area in April, compared with March, is due to the production of durable consumer goods rising by 2.3%, capital goods by 1.9%, non-durable consumer goods by 1.6%, intermediate goods by 0.4% and energy by 0.3%. In the EU28, the increase of 1.3% is due to production of non-durable consumer goods rising by 2.3%, durable consumer goods by 1.9%, capital goods by 1.7%, energy by 0.5% and intermediate goods by 0.4%. Among Member States for which data are available, the highest increases in industrial production were registered in Ireland (+6.7%), Portugal (+6.4%), Estonia (+5.9%) and Hungary (+5.4%), and the largest decreases in Croatia (2.8%), Lithuania (-2.7%) and Latvia (-2.0%).

The increase of 2.0% in industrial production in the euro area in April 2016, compared with April 2015, is due to the production of capital goods rising by 3.8%, both intermediate goods and durable consumer goods by 1.5%, energy by 1.3% and non-durable consumer goods by 1.0%. In the EU28, the increase of 2.5% is due to production of capital goods rising by 3.5%, non-durable consumer goods by 2.4%, durable consumer goods by 2.2%, intermediate goods by 1.3% and energy by 1.0%.