Eurozone industrial producer prices down by 0.7 pct

Industrial producer prices in the eurozone fell by 0.7 percent and by 0.6 percent in the European Union (EU) in February compared with the previous month, the EU's statistics agency said on Monday.

In January 2016, the prices decreased by 1.1 percent in both zones.

On a yearly basis, the industrial producer prices fell by 4.2 percent in both the 19-member euro area and the 28-member EU.

The 0.7-percent decrease was due to price falls of 2.1 percent in the energy sector, of 0.4 percent for intermediate goods and of 0.2 percent for nondurable consumer goods, while prices remained stable for capital goods and increased by 0.1 percent for durable consumer goods.

Prices in total industry, excluding energy, fell by 0.2 percent.

The largest decreases in industrial producer prices were observed in Estonia at -5.2 percent, the Netherlands at -2.8 percent and Denmark at -2.6 percent. The only increases were in Portugal at 0.4 percent and the United Kingdom 0.1 percent.