Euro Area: Industrial production increases in February
Industrial output increased 0.7% over the previous month in seasonally-adjusted terms in February, bouncing back from January’s 0.7% decrease. February’s result reflected rises in the production of intermediate goods, as well as of durable and non-durable consumer goods, more than offsetting declining production of energy and capital goods.
Looking at the individual economies for which data is available, industrial output expanded in eight countries, while it contracted in 10 countries. Looking at the most important economies, production increased in Germany, Italy and Spain, while it decreased in France and the Netherlands.
On an annual basis, industrial production increased 2.0% in February, contrasting January’s 1.5% drop. Lastly, annual average growth in industrial production rose to 7.7% from January’s 7.5%.
Commenting on the release, Bert Colijn, senior economist at ING, sees risks to the outlook ahead:
“The outlook for industry remains clouded by uncertainty and [there are] clear risks to output. In March, supply chain problems worsened again as the war in Ukraine disrupted supply chains once more. Furthermore, Chinese lockdowns have started to impact transportation again, which is set to increase prices and cause further delays. Together, this means that the normalisation of supply chains is delayed at best at this point.”