Eurozone Industrial Production Falls For Second Month

(RTTNews) - Eurozone industrial production declined for the second straight month in January, official data revealed Friday.

Industrial output posted a monthly fall of 1.5 percent in January, sharper than the 0.6 percent decrease seen in December, Eurostat said.

Within overall production, all components except energy declined in January. Non-durable consumer goods logged the biggest fall of 6.0 percent, followed by a 2.3 percent decrease in capital goods output.

Production of intermediate goods and durable consumer goods fell 1.9 percent each. Meanwhile, energy production rebounded 4.7 percent.

On a yearly basis, industrial production dropped 1.2 percent, partially offsetting the 2.2 percent increase seen in December. Industrial output in the EU27 fell 1.6 percent in January from a month ago and decreased 0.6 percent from the last year.

Among member states, the largest annual decreases were recorded in Luxembourg, Ireland and Bulgaria. Meanwhile, the highest increases were seen in Latvia, Denmark and Estonia.

ING economist Bert Colijn said stronger production hopes hinge on the expectation that increased public investment in defence and infrastructure will boost manufacturing output.

"But the risk is that another prolonged surge in energy costs will shatter hopes of a recovery in energy-intensive industries, which have already been struggling since the previous shock in energy prices in 2021-22," he added.