Euro zone industry output falls by more than expected in October

BRUSSELS, Dec 13 (Reuters) – Euro zone industrial production declined by more than expected in October, with the sharpest drop for capital goods such as machinery, reinforcing survey indications that the single-currency area is in a recession.

The European Union’s statistics office Eurostat said on Wednesday that industrial production in the 20 countries sharing the euro fell by 0.7% month-on-month in October for a 6.6% year-on-year drop.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected declines of 0.3% in the month and 4.6% from a year earlier.

The month-on-month fall was chiefly the result of a 1.4% decline of output of capital goods, as well as 0.6% falls for intermediate and non-durable consumer goods, such as food and clothing.

Production of energy was up 1.1% and of durable consumers goods by 0.2%.

Irish industrial output fell by the most, down 7.0%, while that of Greece was 6.0% higher than in September.

The euro zone economy contracted by 0.1% in the third quarter and expectations are that it will decline again at the end of 2023, confirming a recession. Surveys of purchasing managers have pointed to declines in business activity in October and November.

Industrial production – monthly variation

% change compared with previous month (calendar and seasonally adjusted)

	May-23	Jun-23	Jul-23	Aug-23	Sep-23	Oct-23
Euro area
Total industry	0.1	-0.1	-1.3	0.6	-1.0	-0.7
Intermediate goods	0.4	-1.0	0.1	-0.3	-0.4	-0.6
Energy	-2.2	0.5	1.2	-0.2	-1.5	1.1
Capital goods	0.7	-0.1	-3.1	0.4	0.3	-1.4
Durable consumer goods	-1.1	-0.6	-1.4	0.9	-1.8	0.2
Non-durable consumer goods	1.0	-1.3	0.6	0.1	-1.1	-0.6
EU
Total industry	0.1	-0.1	-1.2	0.6	-0.8	-0.5
Intermediate goods	0.3	-1.0	0.0	0.0	-0.3	-0.7
Energy	-2.6	0.3	0.9	0.3	-1.6	2.2
Capital goods	0.8	-0.3	-2.7	0.1	0.2	-0.9
Durable consumer goods	-1.1	-0.7	-1.3	1.0	-2.0	0.3
Non-durable consumer goods	1.1	-0.5	-0.6	0.3	-0.7	-0.5

Industrial production – annual variation

% change compared with same month of the previous year (calendar adjusted)

	May-23	Jun-23	Jul-23	Aug-23	Sep-23	Oct-23
Euro area
Total industry	-2.4	-1.1	-2.2	-5.3	-6.8	-6.6
Intermediate goods	-5.5	-6.3	-5.1	-5.2	-4.7	-4.1
Energy	-6.7	-7.3	-6.0	-5.8	-6.0	-0.5
Capital goods	2.7	4.9	0.7	-7.0	-9.4	-9.7
Durable consumer goods	-6.6	-6.3	-6.9	-8.6	-7.7	-6.2
Non-durable consumer goods	-3.0	-0.1	-0.8	-2.1	-5.8	-7.8
EU
Total industry	-2.0	-1.1	-2.4	-4.5	-6.1	-5.5
Intermediate goods	-6.2	-6.7	-5.6	-5.5	-5.1	-4.4
Energy	-8.0	-8.7	-7.7	-6.0	-5.9	0.3
Capital goods	3.6	5.2	1.1	-5.4	-8.2	-8.0
Durable consumer goods	-7.6	-7.4	-7.6	-8.4	-8.5	-7.0
Non-durable consumer goods	-0.6	2.1	0.2	-0.5	-3.5	-5.2

For Eurostat release, click on:

https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/main/news/euro-indicators