Romania was among the best of a bad bunch according to the latest figures for industrial production from the EU's statistics office Eurostat. The September results, published November 14, are pretty gloomy overall and although the seasonally adjusted adjusted figures for industrial production compared to the previous month show only 0.6 percent growth locally, it is the third highest result in the EU and makes Romania one of only four countries to register any increase at all.

Overall, industrial output in the EU was down by 2.3 percent in September, while the eurozone recorded a 2.5 percent fall against the previous month. The fall in production follows two months of growth, albeit less than 1 percent, for both the EU and the eurozone.

The biggest increase was the 2 percent rise seen in Estonia, followed by Slovakia's 1.4 percent advance, while the Czech Republic followed Romania with a slight 0.1 percent industrial output increase on August. Industrial production was flat in the Netherlands and the rest of the EU member states for which data was available recorded falls. The biggest losers were Ireland and Portugal, with 12.6 and 12 percent falls respectively. Tellingly, Europe's industrial top dog Germany saw production falling by 2.1 percent in September after a 0.2 percent drop a month earlier.

editor@romania-insider.com

picture source: sxc.hu