Industrial production in the European Union member states (EU-27) in September increased for the fifth month in a row, recording a month-on-month increase of 0.2 percent, according to a report released by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities. In August industrial production in the region had increased by 0.8 percent over July.
However, compared with September 2008, industrial production in the EU-27 in September this year declined by 12.1 percent.
In September this year, production of durable consumer goods in the EU-27 decreased by 4.8 percent month on month and was down 15.1 percent year on year, while production of capital goods grew by 0.4 percent over August and decreased by 17.4 percent compared to September 2008. Production of intermediate goods rose by 0.1 percent in September compared to August this year but was down 15.5 percent over the same month of the previous year. In addition, production of energy in the EU-27 decreased by 1.4 percent month on month, while the year-on-year drop was 8.4 percent.
Among the member states for which data are available, industrial production rose in seven member states and fell in eleven other member states in September over August. The highest monthly increases were registered in Ireland with 11.2 percent, in Germany with three percent and in Sweden with 1.6 percent; meanwhile, the most significant declines were observed in Italy with 5.3 percent, in Portugal with 3.3 percent and in Bulgaria with 2.6 percent.