Unexpectedly, Italy experienced a decrease in industrial production in March, with most of the decline attributed to a drop in energy goods output. This information was released on Friday by ISTAT, Italy's statistical office.
In March, there was a somewhat modest increase in industrial output of 0.5 percent, following a period of stagnation in February. Contrarily, experts had predicted a production increase of 0.3 percent.
The production of capital goods saw a downturn of 3.8 percent for the month, while consumer goods also fell by 0.6 percent. Yet, the output of energy goods managed to climb 1.7 percent.
In comparison to last year, the reduction in industrial production has slightly intensified to 3.5 percent, up from 3.3 percent in February. This decrease in March was seen across all key industry groups.
In terms of unadjusted industrial production, there was a major drop of 10.6 percent compared to last year, overturning the minimal recovery of 0.3 percent seen in the month prior.
