Italy industrial production falls more than expected in October

Italian industrial production fell in October, confirming a weak trend both compared to the previous month and year, as Istat showed on Wednesday.

The monthly data show a decrease of 1.0%, worse compared to September when output increased by 2.7%, and lower than market forecasts of a 0.3% decrease cited by FXStreet.

On an annual basis, production declined by 0.3% compared to a 1.4% increase in September, and underperforming against market expectations of 0.2% increase cited by FXStreet.

On a monthly basis, the only sector that recorded growth was energy, which increased by 0.7%.

In contrast, the main manufacturing sectors experienced declines: consumer goods fell by 1.8%, capital goods decreased by 1.0%, and intermediate goods dropped by 0.3%.

Overall, energy was the sole contributor to monthly production growth, while the other key sectors weighed on the industrial output.

On annual basis, the only growing sector is intermediate goods, which rose by 1.1%, while consumer goods fell by 2.0%, capital goods by 0.7% and energy by 0.2%.

By sector, the largest increases were seen in extractive activities, which grew by 5.2%, metallurgy and the manufacture of metal products, up 2.7%, and the production of rubber and plastic products, which advanced by 2.1%.

The steepest declines were in chemicals, down 6.6%, textiles and clothing, which fell by 5.0%, and the production of coke and refined petroleum products, which dropped by 4.6%.