Output of industry is still falling in Europe. In April this year industrial production fell by 1.9% on March in the Eurozone (EZ16) and by 0.9% in the EU27. In March the respective drops on February had been 1.4 % and 1.3 %. As compared to April last year output fell by 21.6 % in the Eurozone and by 19.4 % in the EU27. For the time being, these figures are estimates by the European Statistical Office Eurostat.
Comparison with March 2009
In April output of consumer goods in the Eurozone and EU27 fell by 0.7 % and 0.2 % respectively. For consumer durables the respective changes were -0.8 % and -0.3 %. In the energy sector production fell by 1.1 % and 0.2 % respectively. As far as intermediate inputs are concerned, output decreased by 1.7 % and 0.8 % respectively. With regard to equipment and machinery, output dropped by 2.7 % in the Eurozone and by 1.4 % in the EU27.
Among those countries which have already made data available, output increased in six member states and fell in twelve. Output increased most in Latvia (+4.8 %), Spain (+2.0 %) and Italy (+1.1 %). Major drops were registered in Slovenia (-3.8 %), Finland (-3.4 %) and Estonia (-2.8 %).
Comparison with April 2008
Output of consumer goods dropped by 6.5% in the Eurozone and by 4.4% in the EU27 in April 2009. In the energy sector output declined by 12.3 % and 9.6 % respectively. With regard to consumer durables changes were -22.4 % in the Eurozone and -20.0 % in the EU27. Production of equipment and machinery plummeted by 26.7 % and 25.1 % respectively and that of intermediate inputs by 27.1 % in the Eurozone and by 25.6 % in the EU27.
Output fell in all member states which have so far made data available. Major drops were registered in Estonia (-33.7 %), Slovenia (-24.9 %), Lithuania (-24.5 %) and Italy (-24.2 %). Smaller reductions were registered in Poland (-6.9 %), Rumania (-7.8 %), Portugal (-11.1 %), Greece (-12.2 %) and Great Britain (-12.3 %). 