Brussels, 24/06/2002 (Agence Europe) - Industrial production of the euro zone (with seasonal adjustment) fell 0.5% in April 2002 compared to March, according to estimates published on Thursday by Eurostat. EU15 production fell 0.2% in April 2002, after increasing 0.3% in March. Over one year, industrial production fell 1.2% in the euro zone and 1.4% in the EU15.
Strong falls were recorded in Ireland (-15.2%) and in Italy (-1.0%). The largest increases were noted in Luxembourg (5.8%), Finland (2.5%) and the United Kingdom (1.1%). Production lost most ground in the energy and intermediary goods sectors (0.7% and 0.5% respectively in the euro zone and 0.3% and 0.1% in the EU15). The production of capital goods increased 0.7% in the euro zone and 0.8% (+1.3% and +0.4% in the euro zone and +0.8% and +0.1% in the EU15).