According to the report released by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, in December last year industrial producer prices rose 0.2 percent in the euro area and 0.1 percent in the European Union member states (EU-28), month on month. As compared to December 2016, in December 2017 industrial producer prices rose by 2.2 percent in the euro area and by 2.4 percent in the EU-28.
In December last year compared with November, prices in the energy sector increased by 0.1 percent both in the euro area and in the EU-28. Prices of intermediate goods rose by 0.2 percent both in the euro area and in the EU-28, month on month. Prices of non-durable goods remained stable both in the euro area and in the EU-28, on month-on-month basis. Prices of capital goods increased by 0.1 percent in the euro area and remained stable in the EU-28, while prices of durable goods increased by 0.1 percent in the euro area and by 0.2 percent 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 increases in industrial producer prices were recorded in Sweden (+1.2%), Ireland (+0.7%), Slovakia (+0.6%) and Finland (+0.5%). Price decreases were observed in Denmark (-1.0%), Lithuania (-0.6 percent), and Estonia and Romania (both -0.3 percent), on month-on-month basis.
In December last year as compared to December 2016, prices in the energy sector rose by 2.9 percent in the euro area and were up by 3.2 percent in the EU-28. Prices of intermediate goods increased by 3.0 percent in the euro area and by 3.1 percent in the EU-28, and the prices of non-durable goods rose by 1.5 percent in the euro area and by 1.8 percent in the EU-28, all year on year. Prices of capital goods moved up by 1.0 percent in the euro area and 0.9 percent in the EU-28, while the prices of durable goods increased by 0.7 percent in the euro area and by 1.1 percent in the EU-28, all on year-on-year basis.
Among member states for which data are available, industrial producer prices rose in all member states on year-on-year basis, with the largest increases recorded in Belgium (+5.3%), Bulgaria (+5.1%), the UK (+4.2%), Lithuania (+3.8%) and Ireland (+3.6%).