Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities has released its most current figures from the EA 15 adn EU27.

In March 2008 compared with February 2008, the industrial producer price index rose by 0.7% in the euro area (EA15) and by 0.6% in the EU272. In February prices increased by 0.7% in both zones.

In March 2008 compared with March 2007, industrial producer prices gained 5.7% in the euro area and 6.7% in the EU27.

Monthly changes

In March 2008, compared with the previous month, prices in total industry excluding the energy sector rose by 0.3% in both the euro area and the EU27. Prices in the energy sector increased by 1.8% and 1.5% respectively. Intermediate goods gained 0.4% in the euro area and 0.5% in the EU27. In both zones, non-durable consumer goods rose by 0.3%, durable consumer goods by 0.2% and capital goods by 0.1%

Among Member States for which data are available, the highest increases were registered in Bulgaria (+2.7%), Romania (+1.6%) and Luxembourg (+1.3%). The only decreases were recorded in Denmark (-0.2%) and Sweden (-0.1%).

Annual changes

In March 2008, compared with March 2007, prices in total industry excluding the energy sector increased by 3.7% in the euro area and by 3.9% in the EU27. Prices in the energy sector rose by 12.7% and 15.2% respectively. Non-durable consumer goods gained 5.0% in the euro area and 5.1% in the EU27. Intermediate goods increased by 4.2% and 4.6% respectively. Durable consumer goods gained 2.5% in the euro area and 2.4% in the EU27. Capital goods rose by 1.5% and 1.6% respectively.

Among Member States for which data are available, the highest increases were observed in Lithuania (+17.6%), Bulgaria (+15.4%) and Romania (+14.5%), and the lowest in Germany (+4.2%), Finland (+4.7%) and Ireland (+5.0%).

What is The EU27?

Belgium (BE), Bulgaria (BG), the Czech Republic (CZ), Denmark (DK), Germany (DE), Estonia (EE), Ireland (IE), Greece (EL), Spain (ES), France (FR), Italy (IT), Cyprus (CY), Latvia (LV), Lithuania (LT), Luxembourg (LU), Hungary (HU), Malta (MT), the Netherlands (NL), Austria (AT), Poland (PL), Portugal (PT), Romania (RO), Slovenia (SI), Slovakia (SK), Finland (FI), Sweden (SE) and the United Kingdom (UK).