Thursday 13 / February / 2025
Brussels: Eurozone industrial production registered a bigger-than-expected decline in December 2024 due to sharp falls in capital and intermediate goods output, figures from the Eurostat Statistical Office revealed on Thursday.
Industrial output fell 1.1% in December 2024 from November. The fall was deeper than the forecast of 0.6% and also reversed the 0.4% increase in November. Among major industrial groupings, only non-durable consumer goods and energy production improved from the last month, up 5.1% and 0.5%, respectively.
Output of capital and intermediate goods slid 2.6% and 1.9%, respectively. Production of durable consumer goods fell 0.7%. Year-on-year, the fall in industrial production worsened to 2% from 1.8% in November. Economists had forecast a sharper fall of 3.1%.
The annual average industrial production for the year 2024 decreased 1.7% from the previous year, data showed. In the European Union (EU), industrial output dropped 0.8% on month, taking the annual decrease to 1.7% in December.
The largest monthly decreases were recorded in Belgium, Portugal and Austria. Meanwhile, the highest increases were reported in Ireland, Luxembourg and Croatia.
