Ireland's industrial output second worst in EU

Ireland's industrial output fell by 7.5 per cent in the twelve months to October 2013, according to estimates from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. This was the second largest decrease on an annual basis, behind Malta (-13.9%), across the European Union, .

The highest increases were registered in Romania (+10.2%), Estonia (+6.9%), Hungary (+6.1%) and the Czech Republic (+6.0%). Europe’s largest economy Germany, reported an annual increase of 1.1 per cent.

Across the Eurozone, industrial production fell by 0.2 per cent in the year, and by 0.8 per cent in the EU28.

On a monthly basis, Ireland recorded the highest decrease across the EU at 11.6 per cent, followed by Malta (-7.4%); the Netherlands (-3.5%); and Sweden (-1.4%). The highest increases were in Lithuania (+2.2%); Denmark (+1.8%); the Czech Republic and Romania (both +1.7%).

Across the Eurozone, production fell by 1.1 per cent in October and by 0.7 per cent across the wider European Union, driven by a decline in the production of energy (- 4.0%) in the euro area and a 2.4 per cent decline in durable consumer goods .