Data published by the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) showed that industrial production fell by 0.6% in March after falling by 0.2% in February. Economists had expected a 0.3% increase. The production of capital goods increased by 0.7% compared to February, while the production of intermediate goods (-0.4%), energy (-1.4%) and consumer goods (-1.4%) decreased.
Meanwhile, from January to March, industrial production decreased by 0.1% compared to the 4th quarter of 2022.
ISTAT also said that in annual terms and seasonally adjusted, the rate of decline in industrial production accelerated to 3.2% from 2.3% in February. Consensus estimates suggested a drop by 1.7%. The production of capital goods increased by 3.9% per annum, but the production of consumer goods (-4.7%), intermediate goods (-6.0%) and energy (-11.2%) fell.
The unadjusted industrial production index decreased by 3.3% compared with March 2022.