According to the report from the Eurostat, in May, eurozone industrial production fell by 0.6% after remaining unchanged in April (revised from -0.1%). This was the first decline in four months. Economists had expected a 1.0% drop. In annual terms, industrial production fell by 2.9% after a 3.1% decline in April (revised from -3.0%). Consensus estimates suggested a drop by 2.0%. Meanwhile, among the countries of the European Union, industrial production fell by 0.8% on a monthly basis and by 2.5% per annum.
Eurostat reported that the monthly change in the eurozone was caused by a drop in production of intermediate goods (-1,0%), capital goods (-1,2%) and durable consumer goods (-1.8%). On the other hand, industrial production increased for energy (+0.8%) and non-durable consumer goods (+1.6%).
Meanwhile, the decline in industrial production in the eurozone compared to May 2023 was caused by a drop in production of intermediate goods (-3.5%), capital goods (-6.5%) and durable consumer goods (-4.2%). Production growth was recorded for non-durable consumer goods (+2.8%) and energy (+0.7%).
As for the EU countries, the largest annual decreases were recorded in Romania (-6.9%), Germany (-6.6%) and Bulgaria (-6.3%). The highest increases were observed in Denmark (+9.6%), Ireland (+8.7%) and Greece (+6.8%).