Industrial production fell 2.5% in the euro area (17 countries) and 2.3% across the European Union (27 countries) in September from August—the biggest fall in more than three years. The picture, according to numbers from Eurostat, is just as bleak when looking at figures compared to a year ago with industrial production down 2.3% in the euro zone, and down 2.7% for the European Union (EU).
Just about everything took a hit from the previous month including production of durable consumer goods (down 4.3% in the euro zone, and 3.7% in the EU), capital goods (3.0% and 2.6%, respectively), non-durable consumer goods (2.8% and 2.1%, respectively), and energy production (1.8% and 2.6%, respectively).
Eighteen of 27 EU countries saw production slide since the previous month. The hardest hit countries in order of poor performance were Ireland, down nearly 13%, Portugal, Greece, Sweden, Spain, Latvia, and France. Estonia, up 2%, and Slovakia, up 1.4%, fared the best.
Year on year, industrial production fell in seventeen countries and rose in six. The largest decreases were in Ireland, Portugal, Greece, Spain, and Italy, while Slovakia, Estonia, and Lithuania all increased production by 8% or more.
The full statement and numbers can be found here.