Seasonally adjusted Eurozone industrial production reported a 2.1% decline in December 2019. In comparison, the analysts expected a decrease of 1.6%. At the same time, the volume of industrial production in the European Union has fallen by 2.0% overall, according to calculations by the Eurostat statistical office.

On an annual basis, in December 2019, industrial production decreased by 4.1% in the EUrozone and by 3.9% in total for the EU. The Eurozone indicator recorded a much more significant fall than the expected 2.3% decline.

On a month-on-month basis, the Eurozone industrial production of capital goods decreased by 4.0%, while the production of intermediate goods (-1.7%), non-durable consumer goods (- 1.3%), consumer durables (-1.1%) and energy (-0.5%) were also into the red.

In the EU as a whole, the production of capital goods decreased by 3.5% on a month-on-month basis. For intermediate goods, the decline was 1.6%. The output of durable consumer goods decreased by 1.4%, while the output of durable consumer goods and energy decreased by 1.2% and 0.7% respectively.

Among the Member States, the largest declines in industrial production were recorded in Ireland (-6.2%), Hungary (-3.8%) and Poland (-3.0%). The highest increases were observed in Denmark (7.2%), Portugal (2.9%) and Greece (2.5%).

On a year-on-year basis, Eurozone industrial production fell in capital goods (-6.7%), intermediate goods (-5.5%), energy (-2.3%) and consumer durables. (-1.4%). Non-durable consumer goods rose by 1.3%.

Overall, the volume of capital goods produced in the EU decreased by 6.0%. Intermediate goods (-4.9%), energy (-3.0%) and consumer durables (-0.9%) also reported declines in production. On the other hand, the production of non-durable consumer goods reported a growth of 0.9%.

Among the Member States, the largest decreases in industrial production were registered in Estonia (-9.9%), Romania (-8.9%) and Germany (-7.2%). The most significant increases were observed in Malta (+7.6%), Portugal (+3.9%) and Poland (+1.3%).