Industrial producer prices in Luxembourg fell by 4.2 per cent

According to Eurostat, industrial prices in the eurozone and the EU increased by 0.4% in December 2024 compared to November, continuing the upward trend recorded a month earlier. In November, the rise was more pronounced at 1.7 per cent. However, if we look at year-on-year changes, producer prices in the eurozone remained unchanged, while in the EU they increased by only 0.1%.

The price increase in December 2024 was mainly driven by higher energy costs. Energy costs increased by 1.4 per cent in the euro area and by 1.3 per cent in the EU. There were also small increases in intermediate goods, capital goods and consumer durables. At the same time, prices in industry, with the exception of the energy sector, remained virtually unchanged.

Within EU countries, the largest monthly price increases were observed in Bulgaria (+5.1%), Croatia (+2.4%) and Slovakia (+1.5%), while the largest decreases occurred in Ireland (-1.5%), Romania (-1.3%) and the Netherlands (-0.4%).

Looking at the annual dynamics, it can be noted that the decrease in producer prices was recorded in several countries. In Slovakia prices decreased by 17%, in France - by 3.8%, and in Luxembourg - by 4.2%, which makes it one of the European outsiders by this indicator. At the same time, Ireland showed a notable increase (+11.1%), with strong performances also recorded in Bulgaria (+6.6%) and Denmark (+4.7%).

The general trend in Europe suggests that energy prices are falling, which puts downward pressure on inflation, but may also reflect a slowdown in industrial production. In Luxembourg, the significant fall in producer prices indicates possible difficulties in the industrial sector, which could affect economic growth and the labour market in the longer term.