According to the report released by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, in December last year industrial producer prices fell by 0.8 percent both in the euro area and in the European Union member states (EU-28), month on month. On year-on-year basis, in December last year industrial producer prices were up by three percent in the euro area and by 3.1 percent in the EU-28.
In December 2018, compared with November, prices in the energy sector fell by 2.6 percent in the euro area and by 3.3 percent in the EU-28. Prices of intermediate goods grew by 0.4 percent in the euro area and by 0.3 percent in the EU-28. Prices of durable goods increased by 0.2 percent in the euro area and by 0.1 percent in the EU-28. Prices of non-durable goods remained stable in the euro area and rose by 0.1 percent in the EU-28, while prices of capital goods increased by 0.1 percent in the euro area and remained stable in the EU-28, all on month-on-month basis.
In the given month, among the member states for which data are available, the largest month-on-month decreases in industrial producer prices were recorded in Denmark (-3%), Greece (-2.3%), Belgium (-2.1%) and the Netherlands (-1.5%), and the highest increases in Latvia (+0.7%), Ireland (+0.3%), Estonia (+0.2%), and Luxembourg (+0.1%).
In December 2018, compared with December 2017, prices in the energy sector rose by 7.7 percent in the euro area and by 7.5 percent in the EU-28. Prices of intermediate goods grew by 2.2 percent in the euro area and by 2.6 percent in the EU-28, year on year. Prices of durable goods increased by 1.3 percent in the euro area and by 1.5 percent in the EU-28, while prices of non-durable goods rose by 0.2 percent in the euro area and by 0.4 percent in the EU-28, on year-on-year basis. Prices of capital goods rose by 1.2 percent in the euro area and by 1.3 percent in the EU-28, year on year.
Among member states for which data are available, the largest year-on-year increases in industrial producer prices were recorded in Estonia (+9.2%), Latvia (+7.3%), and Belgium and Denmark (both +7.1%). The only decreases were observed in Ireland (-0.4%) and Greece (-0.1%).