Euro area’s industrial producer prices remain stable in December

Euro area’s industrial producer prices remained stable in the month of December. The estimates from Eurostat showed that the prices rose 0.1 percent sequentially. On a year-on-year basis, the industrial prices dropped 0.7 percent. The average industrial producer prices for the whole of 2019 rose 0.7 percent in the euro area.

On a sequential basis, non-durable consumer goods rose 0.5 percent, whereas capital goods rose 0.1 percent. On the other hand, prices for intermediate goods and for durable consumer goods fell 0.1 percent each. Prices dropped 0.5 percent in the energy sector. Excluding energy, prices in total industry rose 0.1 percent sequentially. The highest rises in industrial producer prices were seen in the Netherlands and Romania and Greece, whereas the largest falls were recorded in Estonia, Portugal and Finland.

On a year-on-year basis, industrial producer prices dropped 4 percent in the energy sector and by 1.1 percent for intermediate goods, while prices rose 1.3 percent for durable consumer goods. Prices for capital goods and for non-durable consumer goods rose 1.5 percent and 2.1 percent, respectively. Excluding energy rose, prices rose 0.5 percent year-on-year.

The largest falls in industrial producer prices were seen in Italy, Estonia and Portugal, while the highest rises were seen in Greece.