19/03/2003 (Agence Europe) - According to estimates published on 18 March by Eurostat, industrial production in the euro area increased by 1.1% during January 2003 compared to the previous month. Industrial production had fallen by 1.6% in December 2002 after a 0.6% rise in November. Production in the European Union (EU15) increased by 0.8% in January 2003, after a fall of 1.4% in December 2002 and a rise of 0.5% in November. The largest increases were noted in Ireland (+11.8%), Luxembourg (+5.9%), Portugal (+2.3%) and Germany (+2%). The largest drops were in Finland (-5.1%), the Netherlands (-1.9%) and Sweden (-0.7%). Eurostat indicates, moreover, that, in annual terms (January 2003/January 2002), industrial production increased 0.7% in the euro zone and 0.3% in the EU15.