Italy: Industrial production falls in December
Latest reading: Industrial production declined 0.4% in seasonally adjusted month-on-month terms in December, following a 1.5% rise in the prior month and broadly in line with market expectations.
Relative to the previous month’s data, readings in December worsened for manufacturing (-0.2% in seasonally adjusted month-on-month terms vs +1.0% in November) and electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning (+1.2% vs +4.2% in November). In contrast, the reading for mining and quarrying improved in December (-1.1% vs -2.1% in November).
In annual terms, industrial production rose 3.3% in December, following 1.2% growth in the previous month.
Panelist insight: Commenting on the outlook, ING’s Paolo Pizzoli stated:
“At this stage of the cycle, a stronger rebound in industrial production seems linked to the timing of Germany’s ambitious infrastructure and defence investment programmes. Given their endogenous nature, implementation risks appear limited mainly to delays, rather than execution. For once, at least in the short term, geopolitical uncertainty seems to pose less risk to the growth outlook.”