Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union (EU), reported that producer prices rose by 0.2% in February, slowing from January (+0.7%, revised from +0.8%), but exceeding economists' forecasts (+0.1%). This was the 5th increase in a row, but the weakest growth in this sequence.
In annual terms, producer prices rose by 3.0% after increasing by 1.7% in January (revised from +1.8%). This marked the highest inflation rate since March 2023, primarily driven by a sharp rise in energy costs. Consensus estimates suggested a 3.4% increase. Meanwhile, among the EU countries, producer prices rose by 0.3% compared to January and by 3.1% per year.
The data showed that on a monthly basis, producer prices in the eurozone increased for non-durable consumer goods (+0,1%), capital goods (+0,2%), energy (+0,2%) and intermediate goods (+0,4%). Meanwhile, prices decreased by 0.1% for durable consumer goods. Excluding energy, producer prices increased by 0.2%.
Among the EU countries, producer prices increased for non-durable consumer goods (+0,2%), capital goods (+0,2%), intermediate goods (+0,4%) and energy (+0,7%). But prices decreased by 0.1% for durable consumer goods. Producer prices excluding energy increased by 0.3%.
Eurostat said that the highest monthly increases in industrial producer prices were recorded in Estonia (+9.5%), Romania (+4.8%) and Bulgaria (+2.5%). The largest decreases were observed in Ireland (-4.9%), France and Slovakia (both -0.8%) and Slovenia (-0.5%).