Along with Ireland and Latvia, Croatia is among three EU countries that saw the sharpest monthly decline in industrial production in March, the latest data released by Eurostat on Wednesday showed.

In March 2018 the seasonally adjusted industrial production in the 28-member European Union increased by 0.4 percent compared to February, after recording a month-on-month 0.7 percent drop in February.

The increase is due to production of both energy and durable consumer goods rising by 1.3 percent, and non-durable consumer goods by 0.8 percent, while the production of intermediate goods fell by 0.3 percent and capital goods by 0.2 percent.

The highest month-on-month increases in industrial production were registered in Estonia (4.1 percent), Portugal (3.7 percent) and Greece (2.6 percent), and the largest decreases in Ireland (7.0 percent), Croatia (4.3 percent) and Latvia (3.5 percent).

In the 19-member euro zone, seasonally adjusted industrial production rose by 0.5 percent in March compared to February.

Compared with March 2017, industrial production increased by 3.0% percent both in the EU28 and the euro zone. The increase in the EU28 is thanks to the production of energy rising by 7.9 percent, capital goods by 3.5 percent, durable consumer goods by 2.6 percent, intermediate goods by 1.4 percent, and non-durable consumer goods by 1.2 percent.

The highest year-on-year increases in industrial production were registered in Lithuania (11.5 percent), Estonia (7.6 percent) and Finland (7.0 percent), and the largest drops in Ireland (14.7 percent), Malta (3.2 percent) and Slovakia (2.3 percent).

In Croatia, year-on-year industrial production declined by 1.7 percent in March, after rising by 3.3 percent in February, Eurostat said.

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