Industrial production in the eurozone sank 11.3% during March, when a large number of countries introduced containment measures against the coronavirus, compared to February, while in the whole of the European Union (EU) the decrease was 10.4%.
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The data, published this Wednesday by Eurostat, the community statistics office, contrasts with those of February, when the indicator fell 0.1% in the 19 countries that share the euro and remained stable in the 27.
In year-on-year terms, the decline in industrial production in the single currency area was 12.9% during March 2020 compared to the same month a year earlier, while in the EU as a whole the decline was 11.8%.
As for Spain, the monthly fall in March compared to February 2020 was 11.9%, the fifth largest in the EU and the fourth most pronounced in the eurozone among the countries for which Eurostat provided data. In February, the Spanish drop had been only 0.2%.
If the year-on-year comparison is made, Spanish industrial production fell by 12.6%, the seventh largest contraction in the EU and sixth in the euro area. In the second month of the year, the decrease had been limited to 1.6%.
The 11.3% monthly drop in the euro club was due to the drop of 26.3% in consumer durables, from 15.9% in capital goods, from 11% in intermediates, from 4 % in energy and 1.6% in non-durable consumption.
In the Twenty-Seven, the decrease of 10.4% responded to contractions of 23.8% in the production of durable consumer goods, of 15.1% in capital goods, of 9.9% in intermediate goods, of 3.5% in energy and 1.2% in non-durable consumption.
By country, the greatest falls occurred in Italy (28.4%), Slovakia (20.3%) and France (16.4%), compared to increases in Ireland (15.5%), Greece and Finland ( 1.9% in both cases) and Lithuania (0.7%). In Germany there was a decrease of 11.2%.
As for the 12.9% year-on-year decrease in the eurozone, it was explained by the 24.2% decrease in the production of durable consumer goods, from 21.5% in capital goods, from 11.8% in intermediates, 6.7% in energy and 0.8% in non-durable consumer goods.
Across the community club, the production of consumer durables fell by 21.7%, that of capital goods decreased 20%, that of intermediates fell 10.1%, and that of energy fell 6%. , 4%, compared to the 0.3% drop in non-durable consumer goods.
Luxembourg (32.7% less), Italy (29.3%) and Slovakia (19.6%) recorded the largest decreases, compared to increases in Ireland (25.3%), Malta (5.7%) and Finland (2.8%). In Germany the indicator fell by 14.2% and in France by 16.8%.
