ZAGREB, ( Nov (Hina) - European industrial producer prices dropped again in September 2024, and in Croatia the decline was almost twice as strong as the European average, shows a report by the EU's statistical office Eurostat, released on Thursday.
Year on year, industrial producer prices dropped by 3.4% in the euro area and by 3.3% in the EU.
In August 2024 industrial producer prices had dropped by 2.3% in the euro area and by 2.1% in the EU.
By far the strongest year-on-year decline in industrial producer prices was recorded in the energy sector, -11.6% in the euro area and -10.6% in the EU.
The largest increase in prices in the euro area was reported for non-durable consumer goods and capital goods, of 1.5% and 1.3% respectively.
In the EU, too, prices of capital and non-durable consumer goods grew the most, by 1.5% and 1.4% respectively compared to September 2023.
Without the energy sector, industrial producer prices grew by 0.6% in the euro area and by 0.5% in the EU.
Sharp drop in Croatia
Industrial producer prices dropped the most year on year in Slovakia, by 18.5%, followed by Luxembourg and Latvia, which reported decreases of 9.9% and 7.4% respectively.
In Croatia, industrial producer prices in September 2024 dropped by 6.3% year on year, the largest drop in slightly more than eight years. In August 2024 they had dropped by 5.6%.
Year on year, industrial producer prices grew only in Ireland, by 1.5%, in Portugal, by 1%, and in Czechia and Malta, by 0.6%, shows the Eurostat report.
Cheaper energy
Month on month, industrial producer prices in the euro area dropped in September 2024 by 0.6%, after going up by 0.6% in the previous month. The same month-on-month drop was reported in the EU, after industrial producer prices there had gone up 0.4% in August 2024.
Energy prices dropped the most in both areas, by 1.9% in the euro area and by 1.8% in the EU, after they went up by almost the same percentage in August.
In other sectors, prices remained more or less at the August levels.
Without energy prices, industrial producer prices in the euro area and the EU were unchanged in relation to August.
Month on month, industrial producer prices dropped the most in Estonia, by 3.6%. Spain and Romania followed, withj decreases of 2.4% and 2.2% respectively.
In Croatia industrial producer prices in September 2024 dropped by 0.2% compared to August, when they had dropped by 0.5%.
Industrial producer prices grew the most month on month in Ireland, by 4.8%, followed by Finland and Greece, where they went up by 1.0% and 0.7%% respectively.
