Industrial production in the Eurozone grew by 0.6% m/m in August

Industrial production in the Eurozone and the European Union adjusted for seasonal changes in August 2023 increased by 0.6% compared to the previous month. This is evidenced by Eurostat’s data.

Compared to August 2022, industrial production in the Eurozone fell by 5.1%, in the EU – by 4.4%.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected a monthly increase of 0.1% and a 3.5% decline compared to August 2022.

Among EU member states, the highest monthly increase in industrial production in August was recorded in Ireland (+6.1%), Slovakia (+4.5%) and Lithuania (+3.7%). The biggest decrease was observed in Hungary (-2.4%), Croatia (-2.2%) and Belgium (-1.8%).

On an annual basis, according to Eurostat, in August 2023, industrial production grew the most in Slovakia (+4.7%), Denmark (+3.5%) and Malta (+3%). At the same time, Ireland (-27.3%), Slovenia (-12.3%) and Estonia (-11.9%) showed the largest drop in industrial production compared to August 2022.

Energy production in the Eurozone in August 2023 decreased by 0.9% m/m, in annual terms it fell by 6.3%. In the EU, energy production in this period fell by 0.5% m/m, compared to August 2022 – by 6.7%.

As GMK Center reported earlier, inflation in eurozone in September 2023 increased by 4.3% y/y slowing down from 5.2% in August. Thus, inflation in Europe updated the minimum since October 2021.

Also, the European Commission worsened the prognosis growth in the eurozone economy for 2023 and 2024, as inflation is still too high, consumer spending declines and Germany, the region’s largest economy, slips into recession. It is expected that the GDP of the Eurozone will grow by 0.8% in 2023 and by 1.3% in 2024. These figures are lower than the May forecasts of 1.1% and 1.6%, respectively.