According to the report released by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, in March this year industrial producer prices increased by 0.3 percent in the euro area and were up by 0.4 percent in the European Union member states (EU-28), both month on month. As compared to March 2015, in March this year industrial producer prices fell by 4.2 percent in the euro area and by 4.1 in the EU-28.
In March of the current year compared with February, prices in the energy sector increased by 1.2 percent in the euro area and were up by 1.9 percent in the EU-28. Prices of intermediate goods decreased by 0.1 percent in both the euro area and the EU-28, month on month. Prices of non-durable goods declined by 0.1 percent both in the euro area and in the EU-28 in month-on-month basis. Prices of capital goods remained stable in both regions, and prices of durable goods increased by 0.2 percent in both regions, both on month-on-month basis.
In the given month, among the member states for which data are available, the largest month-on-month increases in industrial producer prices were recorded in Greece (+1.8%), Estonia (+1.6%), Belgium (+1.4%) and the UK (+1.2%). The highest decreases were observed in Cyprus (-1.6%), and Lithuania and Slovakia (both -0.7%), on month-on-month basis.
In March this year as compared to March last year, prices in the energy sector fell by 12.1 percent in the euro area and were down by 13 percent in the EU-28. Prices of intermediate goods decreased by 2.6 percent in the euro area and declined by 2.4 percent in the EU-28 and the prices of non-durable goods decreased by 0.8 percent in the euro area and were down by 0.7 percent in the EU-28, all year on year. Prices of capital goods rose by 0.3 percent in the euro area and by 0.6 percent in the EU-28, while the prices of durable goods increased by 0.8 percent in the euro area and by 0.9 percent in the EU-28, all on year-on-year.