Portugal’s industrial production rose by 0.7% in December, marking the third consecutive month of growth.
In contrast, the December average for all 17 eurozone countries was a contraction of 0.7% when compared to November.
Growth was recorded in only two nations in the single currency, Portugal and Greece.
Comparing December 2013 with one year before, Portugal’s growth was a respectable 7.1%. This was the largest growth of any country in the wider EU, outstripping Germany’s growth of 2.4% and the UK’s increase of 1.6%.
Other countries, however, did not fare so well. Many experienced sharp drops in industrial output, including Ireland (-6.7%), France (-0.3%), and the Netherlands (-0.8%).
Overall, the eurozone saw nearly all parts of its manufacturing decrease compared to the end of 2012. The exception was so-called intermediate goods, or semi-finished products needed to assemble other larger goods. Here production rose by 3.6%.
