Luxembourg, 22/11/2001 (Agence Europe) - According to statistics published by Eurostat on Tuesday, industrial production fell by 0.5% in the eurozone in September 2001 (compared with August 2001), following an increase of 1.5% in August and a fall of 1.7% in July. Industrial production in the EU as a whole (EU15) fell by 0.6% in September, following a 1.3% rise in August and a 1.5% fall in July.
After showing the highest increase of all sectors in August, durable consumer goods registered the strongest fall in September: -2.9% in the eurozone and -2.6% in the EU15. The intermediate and capital goods indices fell by 0.8% and 1.0% respectively in the eurozone and by 0.9% and 1.2% in the EU15. Non-durable consumer goods increased by 0.1% in the eurozone, but declined by 0.4% in the EU15. Energy rose by 0.3% in the eurozone and by 0.6% in the EU15. In September, industrial production fell in all Member Sates for which data is available, except in Portugal (2.3%) and the Netherlands (1.6%). The biggest falls were observed in Spain (-2.4%), Ireland (-2.3%), Denmark (-2.2%) and Germany (-1.9%).
On an annual basis (September 2001 compared with September 2000), industrial production fell by 0.6% in the eurozone and 1.2% in the EU15. The biggest fall was recorded for durable consumer goods with annual rates of -4.2% in the eurozone and -4.6% in the EU15. Intermediate goods fell by 2.0% and 2.8% respectively. Capital goods remained stable in the eurozone and fell by 1.0% in the EU15. Non-durable consumer goods and energy increased by 0.6% and 0.9% respectively in the eurozone and by 0.3% and 0.8% in the EU15. Compared to September 2000, Portugal (5.0%), Ireland (3.8%), the Netherlands (1.8%), Luxembourg (1.5%) and France (0.7%) recorded increases, while the UK (-4.4%), Finland and Belgium (both -3.4%), Denmark (-3.2%) and Germany (-2.2%) registered the biggest falls.