Malta registers third largest decrease in industrial production in Europe

Malta registered a decrease of 3.9% in industrial production in August 2016 when compared to the same month in 2015

In both the euro area and the EU28, industrial production increased by 1.8%
In both the euro area and the EU28, industrial production increased by 1.8%

A Eurostat study comparing industrial production in the European Union in August 2016 to the same period the previous year showed that Malta had the third largest decrease, with industrial production going down by 3.9%.

Malta follows Ireland, whose industrial production went down by 8.5%, and Sweden, which registered a 6.2% decrease.

On the other hand, Czech Republic registered the highest increase with a 7.7% rise, Slovenia with 5.9% and Poland with 5.1%.

In both the euro area and the 28 countries within the EU (EU28), industrial production increased by 1.8%.

In the EU28 a general increase of 1.8% in industrial production in August 2016 is due to production of durable consumer goods rising by 4.6%, capital goods by 3.3%, intermediate goods by 1.9%, energy by 0.2% and non-durable consumer goods by 0.1%.

In the euro area, the rise is due to production of durable consumer goods rising by 4.9%, capital goods by 2.6%, intermediate goods by 2.0% and energy by 1.5%, while production of non-durable consumer goods fell by 0.1%.

In August 2016 compared with July 2016, seasonally adjusted industrial production rose by 1.6% in the euro area and by 1.4% in the EU28.

The increase of 1.6% in industrial production in the euro area in August 2016, compared with July 2016, is due to production of durable consumer goods rising by 4.3%, capital goods by 3.5%, energy by 3.3% and intermediate goods by 1.4%, while production of non-durable consumer goods fell by 0.6%.

In the EU28, the increase of 1.4% is due to production of capital goods rising by 3.8%, durable consumer goods by 2.7%, energy by 1.9% and intermediate goods by 0.9%, while production of non-durable consumer goods fell by 0.5%.

Among Member States, the highest increases in industrial production from July to August were registered in the Czech Republic (+12.1%), the Netherlands (+4.4%) and Germany (+3.1%), and the largest decreases in Ireland (-13.4%), Finland (-3.5%) and Sweden (-2.9%).