Euro-zone production up

  • 2002-05-09
  • Agence France-Presse
BRUSSELS

Euro-zone production prices rose on a monthly basis in March, ahead of falls in economic confidence and the business climate index in April, data from the European Union's statistics service Eurostat showed on May 3.

Production prices rose across the 12-nation euro zone by 0.4 percent in March from the figure for February, and across the entire 15-nation European Union by 0.3 percent, Eurostat said.

Compared to the March 2001 data, euro-zone prices fell by 0.8 percent, while the EU-15 showed a drop of 0.7 percent.

On a monthly basis the strongest increases occurred in Portugal (1 percent), the Netherlands (0.9 percent), France (0.7 percent) and Spain (0.5 percent).

Decreases of 0.1 percent in Luxembourg, and of 0.2 percent in both Belgium and Britain were also reported.

On a 12-month basis, the decrease in both the euro-zone and full EU-15 "was due to price decreases for energy and intermediate goods," a Eurostat statement said.

"The annual rates were negative in all member states for which data are available, except in Spain where prices were stable and in Sweden where they increased by 1.5 percent.

"The strongest annual falls were reported in Portugal (minus 4.9 percent) and in the Netherlands (minus 3.5 percent)."

Britain, Denmark, and Sweden belong to the European Union, but not the euro zone.

In April, Eurostat's economic confidence index edged lower by 0.1 point to 99.4 points in the euro zone, but rose by 0.3 points to 100 in the full EU-15, owing to greater confidence in Britain.

It was the first decrease for the euro zone this year.

The index tracks the mood of major economic sectors, including that of consumers which fell by a full point in a month.

Meanwhile, the euro-zone's business climate index slipped by an almost negligible 0.05 points in April to minus 0.64, following four straight monthly increases.

The European Commission said the business climate data reflected dour opinions on production trends observed in the recent past, while expectations for the sector had remained unchanged.

The index, which reflects sentiment by industrial leaders, fell for a year and a half before hitting a low point of minus 1.19 in November.