INDUSTRIAL production in Europe again rose sharply in June, which marked the beginning of recovery in Croatia following the relaxation of coronavirus containment measures, showed a report by the EU statistical office, Eurostat, on Wednesday.

The seasonally adjusted industrial production in the EU and the euro area rose in June by 9.1% compared with May, when according to revised Eurostat data it grew by 11.6%, that is, 12.3% respectively.

Relaxing of coronavirus measures

The EU statistical office reiterated that in June most EU countries had relaxed their measures for curbing the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The production of durable consumer goods saw the biggest increase in both areas, by 20.2%, and it is followed by the category of capital goods with an increase in production of 14.2%.

Energy production saw the most modest increase, by 1.7% in the EU and by 2.6% in the euro area.

EU state members with the biggest production growth were Slovakia (21.7%), Hungary (17.1%), and Romania (16.3%).

Croatia's industrial production recovers after three months of decrease

In Croatia, the seasonally adjusted industrial production in June grew for the first time since February, and the increase was 7.3% compared with May, when according to revised Eurostat data, production fell by 1.8%. The initial estimate had shown a 3.5% drop.

In June, a decrease in production was recorded only in Belgium, by 1.4%, and in Finland, by 0.8%.

Eurostat did not have data for the Netherlands or Austria.

In June, the annual decrease in industrial production in the EU and the euro area was 11.6% and 12.3% respectively. In May, it decreased by 20.1% in the EU and by 20.4% in the euro area, revised Eurostat data shows.

Croatia's industrial production in June was down 1.7% on the year. In May, the annual decrease was 12.4% on the year.