According to the report released by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, in May this year industrial producer prices increased by 0.6 percent both in the euro area and in the European Union member states (EU-28), month on month. As compared to May 2015, in May this year industrial producer prices fell by 3.9 percent in the euro area and by 3.7 percent in the EU-28.
In May of the current year compared with April, prices in the energy sector increased by 1.7 percent in the euro area and were up by 2.1 percent in the EU-28. Prices of intermediate goods rose by 0.3 percent in both the euro area and the EU-28, month on month. Prices of non-durable goods grew by 0.1 percent both in the euro area and in the EU-28 on month-on-month basis. Prices of capital goods remained stable in both regions, and prices of durable goods showed zero growth in both regions, all 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 Belgium (+2.7%), the Netherlands (+2.0%), Hungary (+1.6%) and Greece (+1.3%). The only decreases were observed in Latvia (-0.4%), Sweden (-0.2%) and Bulgaria (-0.1%), on month-on-month basis.
In May this year as compared to May last year, prices in the energy sector fell by 10.8 percent in the euro area and were down by 11.3 percent in the EU-28. Prices of intermediate goods decreased by 2.9 percent in the euro area and declined by 2.6 percent in the EU-28 and the prices of non-durable goods decreased by 0.6 percent in the euro area and in the EU-28, all year on year. Prices of capital goods rose by 0.4 percent in the euro area and by 0.6 percent in the EU-28, while the prices of durable goods increased by 0.9 percent in both regions, all on year-on-year.