Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union (EU), reported that producer prices rose by 0.8% in July, accelerating from June (+0.6%, revised from +0.5%) and recording the strongest growth since December 2022. Economists had expected growth of 0.3%. In annual terms, producer prices fell by 2.1%, slowing compared to June (-3.3%, revised from -3.2%). It was the 14th price drop in a row. Consensus estimates suggested a 2.5% drop. Meanwhile, among the EU countries, producer prices rose by 0.8% compared to June and fell by 1.9% per annum.
The data showed that on a monthly basis, producer prices in the eurozone increased for energy (+2.8%), but fell for intermediate goods (-0.1%), durable consumer goods (-0.1%) and non-durable consumer goods (-0.1%). Meanwhile, the prices remained stable for capital goods. Excluding energy, producer prices fell by 0.1%.
Among the EU countries, producer prices remained stable for intermediate goods, capital goods and non-durable consumer goods, but increased for energy (+2.5%). Meanwhile, prices for durable consumer goods fell by 0.1%. Producer prices excluding energy decreased by 0.1%.
Eurostat said that the highest monthly increases in industrial producer prices were recorded in Bulgaria (+3.6%), Greece (+2.9%) and Romania (+2.7%). The highest decreases were observed in Sweden (-0.9%), Finland (-0.7%) and Austria (-0.2%).