Data released by the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) showed that industrial production increased by 1.6% in December after falling by 0.1% in November (revised from -0.3%). This was the first increase in the last four months. Economists had expected production to fall by 0.1%. Meanwhile, the change of the average of the last three months with respect to the previous three months was -0.9%.
ISTAT said that production growth in December was recorded in all major sectors: capital goods (+3.1%), energy (+2.6%), consumer goods (+1.6%) and intermediate goods (+0.8%).
In annual terms, industrial production was almost unchanged in December (+0.1%) after falling by 3.4% in November (revised from -3.4%). Consensus estimates suggested a 1.1% drop.
Meanwhile, for the whole of 2022, industrial production increased by 0.5%. Among the main industries, an increase was recorded in the consumer goods sector and the capital goods sector, while production in the intermediate goods sector and the energy sector declined.