Industrial Production (IP) for the EU showed a month-on-month fall of -0.8% in December with a reduction of -1.1% for the Euro-zone, more than revering the growth in November. Compared to December 2023, total IP declined by -1.7% in the EU and -2.0% for the Euro-zone. For 2024 as a whole, EU IP fell by -2.0%, with a reduction of -1.7% for the Euro-zone.
The data published by Eurostat uses Industrial Production rather than manufacturing (for which it does not provide a breakdown) so it is not directly equivalent to the UK figures at this level, although the figures for capital goods are comparable. Manufacturing makes up the largest part of IP but it also includes output of energy and utilities.
Allowing for the volatility of monthly data, total industrial production in Europe has been on a downward trend for most of the last two years, with the latest results their lowest since the pandemic. On a quarterly basis, total IP in the 4th quarter was -0.3% lower than in the 3rd period of the year for the EU, with the Euro-zone seeing a fall of -0.5%.
At the sub-sector level, in the month-on-month data, capital goods was again the weakest part of IP with output falling by -2.0% in the EU and -2.6% for the Euro-zone. The comparison with a year earlier (December 2023) is even more dramatic with output -7.5% lower in the EU and -8.1% down in the Euro-zone – the next worst sub-sector was intermediate goods which registered reductions of -2.3% and -2.4% respectively. On both comparisons, the strongest of the sub-sectors was non-durable consumer goods, which grew strongly.
Staying with the 12-month trends, of the 27 Member States, total IP increased in 12 and fell in 15. The strongest increases in percentage terms were in Malta (+14.4% – small in value terms), Ireland (+10.1% – often volatile) and Lithuania (+7.6%), while Austria (-9.5%), Italy (-7.1%) and Hungary (-6.4%) had the largest declines.
You can get the Eurostat figures from their website at https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/main/news/euro-indicators (13 February) or request it from MTA.