Whilst most of the focus of economic reporting concerning the EU focuses on the 18 member states that share the common currency, the Euro, it must not be forgotten that the wider EU contains a further ten nations. Without doubt, the largest economic power outside of the Eurozone is the British economy which would vie with France for the title of second largest economy in the EU behind Germany.
Whilst the industrial output of the Eurozone slipped back in January by 0.2% over the December level. However, if one considers industrial output in January taken for the European Union as a whole, then the situation moves from one of contraction to expansion. The group of 28 nations managed an expansion of 0.1% in the first month of the year. Year-on –year, industrial output improved by 2.1%, within Eurozone economies, and by 2.4% across the whole EU.
A significant drag on Eurozone industrial output fortunes was the French economy (the second largest within the bloc) that experienced a 1.4% contraction within its industrial sector over the course of the year. The French economy contracted in Q2 and Q3 last year, returning to growth in Q4. By contrast, the UK enjoyed the best growth of any western economy in 2013, posting growth figures of 1.9% for the year, its best performance since 2007.
German industrial output was up by 0.4% in January (over the December figure) – the UK grew by 0.1% over the December figure.
Of the non-Eurozone EU member states, industrial production was up in the UK, Poland, Sweden, Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary and Croatia (7/10).
The figures are modest, to say the least, and come off a low background which provides further evidence, if any were needed, of the weak (but real) recovery seen in the Eurozone and EU as a whole.