Eurozone's Industrial Production Declines More Than Expected

By Maria Martinez

Industrial production in the eurozone fell in February, the European Union's statistics agency said Wednesday.

The output of factories, mines and utilities across the currency area for February was 1.0% lower than in January and fell 1.6% compared to February 2020. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had expected a 0.5% decline on month and a 0.9% drop on year.

Compared with January 2021, production of capital goods fell 1.9%, energy production fell 1.2%, durable-consumer-goods production declined 1.1%, intermediate-goods production fell 0.7% and production of non-durable consumer goods slipped 0.1%, Eurostat said.

Among member states for which data are available, the largest decrease in industrial production was registered in France, which recorded a 4.8% drop. On the other hand, the sharpest increases were observed in Hungary, Ireland and Croatia.

Write to Maria Martinez at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

04-14-21 0514ET