Industrial production in Bulgaria continued to contract for a fourth consecutive month in July, with the decline accelerating from June both year-on-year and month-on-month, according to the latest data published by Eurostat on SEPTEMBER 16.
Output at Bulgarian industrial enterprises fell by 2.9% in July compared with June. This was the sharpest monthly decline in the indicator since April, when it fell by 4.6%. Industrial production decreased by 0.6% in May, while an initially reported monthly increase of 0.4% in May was revised to a decline of 0.1%, according to Eurostat's seasonally adjusted data released Wednesday.
On an annual basis, comparing July with the same month a year earlier, Bulgaria recorded the most significant decline in industrial production among EU member states.
Industrial output in Bulgaria was 6.8% lower year-on-year in July, deepening the 2.6% decline recorded in June. This marked the largest annual decrease in Bulgarian industrial production since February, when output fell by 8.7%.
As in the previous month, the production of intermediate goods by Bulgarian companies recorded the sharpest decline, falling by 11.3% year-on-year, followed by the production of capital goods, which decreased by 9.1%.
Among the main economic sectors in Bulgaria, only energy production increased, rising by 9.9% year-on-year in July.
Meanwhile, industrial production in the euro area remained unchanged in July from June, recording zero annual growth. In the previous month, the indicator had declined by 0.3%. Across the EU, however, industrial production increased by 0.3% year-on-year, the same growth rate as in June.
Apart from Bulgaria, the largest annual declines among EU member states were recorded in Romania (6.3%), Belgium (5.6%) and Luxembourg (3.3%), while the strongest increases were reported in the Netherlands (8.2%), Croatia (7.2%), Lithuania (6.5%) and Denmark (4.7%).
Compared with June, industrial production fell by 0.1% in the euro area and by 0.3% in the EU in July. In June, the indicator had declined by 0.1% in both the euro area and the EU.
The EU countries with the largest monthly declines in industrial production in July were Denmark (4.2%), Bulgaria (2.9%) and Lithuania (2.4%). At the other end of the scale, the largest increases were recorded in Luxembourg (4.5%), Croatia (3.9%) and Ireland (2.6%).
Earlier in September, Bulgaria's National Statistical Institute reported that, according to the industrial production index used by the institute, Bulgarian industrial production had decreased by 6.8% year-on-year in July and by 3% compared with the previous month.