Good news on the front of EU industrial production: the Eurostat figures published in early October and relating to August 2007 indicate a growth of 1.2% over the previous month for the thirteen countries of the Euro Zone, and a growth of 0.9% for the EU as a whole. The data – which confirm the positive trend in industrial production that has lasted since 2005 – are particularly positive if placed in relation to the annual trend: +4.3% for the Euro Zone and +4% for the EU-27. Portugal (+2.5%), Germany (+1.7%) and Latvia (+1.7%) are the countries that are most powering average growth, in spite of the negative results of eight member states, the worst performers being Slovakia (which has lost two and a half percentage points) and Denmark and Romania (each two percentage points). The annual curve shows that the best performers are Lithuania (+13.7%), Slovenia (+10%) and Poland (+9%). Only three countries have clocked up a negative trend: Denmark (-1.3%), Greece (-0.4%) and Finland (-0.3%). If the sector of energy production is suffering at the EU level, overall industrial production is favoured by the surge in consumer durables (+3.8% and +3.2%) and the good result of investment goods, which have grown by over one percentage point.
