EU's industrial production down amid pandemic

ISTANBUL The EU's industrial output slipped 1.3% in February, when the novel coronavirus appeared in the continent, compared to the same month last year, the bloc's statistical office reported on Thursday. Eurostat said the figure was also down 1.9% in eurozone during the same period. The eurozone/euro area or EA19 represents member states that use the single currency -- euro -- while the EU27 includes all member countries of the bloc. In the EU, among main industrial groups, the production of capital goods fell the most, down 3.1% year-on-year in February. It was followed by energy (1.7%) and intermediate goods (0.2%), while production of non-durable consumer goods posted an increase of 0.5% and durable consumer goods rose by 1.5%. Among member states, the highest annual decreases were seen in Luxembourg (-8.0%), Ireland (-6.8%) and Greece (-3.5%). "The highest increases were observed in Malta (+10.5%), Poland (+3.6%) and Slovenia (+2.4%)," Eurostat said. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which infected over 2 million people globally and caused some 137,000 deaths, several sectors, including factories, has been facing problems related to measures, such as lockdowns.