Industrial production declined by 2.4 percent in April compared to March 2025. All major product categories saw monthly declines, with non-durable consumer goods falling the most at minus 3.0 percent, hinting at cooling consumer demand. Intermediate goods, capital goods, and energy also recorded contractions, signalling widespread output weakness across supply chains and manufacturing.

Despite the monthly downturn, year-over-year figures offered modest reassurance. Euro area industrial production was 0.8 percent higher than in April 2024, underpinned by a strong 6.1 percent surge in non-durable consumer goods, likely reflecting resilient consumer spending on essentials. However, persistent annual declines in intermediate goods (minus 1.0 percent), capital goods (minus 0.6 percent), and energy (minus 0.1 percent) suggest subdued investment activity and ongoing challenges in energy-intensive industries.

Regionally, industrial production fell in Germany (minus 2.4 percent after minus 0.1 percent) and France (minus 2.1 percent after 0.1 percent), while it rose in Spain (0.5 percent after 1.2 percent) and Italy (0.3 percent after minus 1.8 percent) on an annual basis.

The latest updates suggest that policymakers and investors may need to monitor closely for signs of sustained slowdown, especially as consumer momentum alone may not be enough to stabilise industrial output in the longer term. This latest update takes the RPI to 2 and the RPI-P to 17, meaning that economic activities are ahead of the expectations within the euro area.

Forecasters expect industrial output to fall back by 1.5 percent on month in April after surging by 2.6 percent on the month in March. The call for the year-on-year change is an increase of 1.7 percent after 3.6 percent in March.

Industrial production measures the physical output of factories, mines and utilities. The measure provided by Eurostat excludes the volatile construction subsector for which data are released a few days later.

Industrial production measures changes in the volume of output for the EMU's member states. The industrial production index provides a measure of the volume trend in value added at factor cost over a given reference period, excluding VAT and other similar deductible taxes. The preferred number is industrial production excluding construction. As with other EMU statistics, the data are provided by the national statistics offices to Eurostat (the European Union statistical agency) where it is combined to produce an overall output measure.

Investors want to keep their finger on the pulse of the economy because it usually dictates how various types of investments will perform. The stock market likes to see healthy economic growth because that translates to higher corporate profits. The bond market prefers more subdued growth that will not lead to inflationary pressures. By tracking economic data such as industrial production, investors will know what the economic backdrop is for these markets and their portfolios.