According to the report released by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, in March this year industrial producer prices decreased by 0.2 percent in the euro area and by 0.3 percent in the European Union member states (EU-28), both month on month. In March of the current year as compared to March 2013, industrial producer prices fell by 1.6 percent in both areas.
In March this year compared with February, prices in overall industry excluding the energy sector remained stable in both the euro area and the EU-28. The prices of capital goods increased by 0.1 percent in both zones, while prices of durable consumer goods increased by 0.1 percent in the euro area and remained stable in the EU-28, all month on month. Meanwhile, the prices of non-durable goods remained stable in the euro area and increased by 0.1 percent in the EU-28, while the prices of intermediate goods fell 0.2 percent and by 0.1 percent respectively, both on month-on-month basis.
In the given month, among the member states for which data are available, the largest month-on-month increases were recorded in Greece and Malta (both +0.7%) and Spain (+0.2%), while the largest decreases were registered in Denmark and the Netherlands (both -0.9%), and in Estonia and Cyprus (both -0.8%), while prices remained stable In Lithuania and Slovenia.
In March of the current year as compared to March 2013, prices in overall industry excluding the energy sector decreased by 0.5 percent in the euro area and by 0.3 percent in the EU-28, while prices in the energy sector fell by 4.3 percent and by 4.9 percent respectively. Prices of intermediate goods decreased by 1.9 percent in the euro area and by 1.6 percent in the EU-28, year on year. Prices of capital goods rose by 0.3 percent in the euro area and by 0.5 percent in the EU-28, prices of durable consumer goods rose by 0.8 percent in both zones, while prices of non-durable consumer goods rose by 0.5 percent in the euro area and by 0.7 percent in the EU-28, all year on year.
Among member states for which data are available, the largest year-on-year increases in the overall index were observed in Malta (+0.8%) and Latvia (+0.6%), while the largest decreases were seen in Cyprus (-5.6%), Belgium (-4.8%), and Estonia, Lithuania and Slovakia (all -4.2%).