Industry continues with frontal decline in production output
Rebooting Industry Trends: April's Mixed Bag of Results, with a Spotlight on Non-Energy Sectors
Industrial production figures from April 2025 have stirred up a storm of variations, particularly within regions and industry sub-sectors. Here's a lowdown on how the non-energy civil sectors of the processing industry fared across Cyprus, Greece, and the Euro area.
Cyprus vs Greece vs Euro area: A Tale of Two Cities
- Cyprus saw a 3.0% uptick in its Industrial Production Index, propelling it to 110.3 units (base 2021=100), setting strong foundations for the island economy.
- Conversely, Greece grappled with a 4.3% decrease overall, affected by dips in electricity supply (-19.5%), water supply (-5.4%), mining and quarrying (-4.0%), and manufacturing (-1.1%).
- The Euro area managed to inch upwards by 0.8%, with, albeit, short-term monthly declines across various categories like intermediate goods (-0.7%), capital goods (-1.1%), durable consumer goods (-0.2%), and non-durable consumer goods (-3.0%), signaling possible cyclical or seasonal factors at play.
Focus on Non-Energy Civil Sectors
A closer look at the manufacturing sector, which includes processing industries, revealed that although overall production saw a slight annual decrease of 1.1% in Greece, sub-sectors such as motor vehicles, furniture, and wearing apparel experienced decline—highlighting the need for targeted interventions.
On the other hand, Intermediate goods, excluding energy, exhibited robust growth of 15.2% year-on-year, underscoring the dynamism in core processing sectors outside energy. This pattern was corroborated by the Euro area's modest overall increase of 0.8%.
Going Forward
- Despite regional disparities and some sector-specific declines, the industrial production index signifies that non-energy civil sectors in some regions, notably Cyprus and the Euro area, are steaming ahead with 3.0% and 0.8% respective annual growth.
- The significant growth in intermediate goods, excluding energy, offers a stimulating outlook, as it underscores industrial activity's strengthening roots in core processing sectors outside energy.
- Monthly fluctuations across several civil and capital goods categories in the Euro area reveal the swings that short-term comparisons can bring, implying that economic forecasts should consider factors such as seasonality and cyclical trends.
In conclusion, the industrial production index in April 2025 presents a gradient of achievements and challenges across different industries and regions. The underlying trends suggest that while some sectors are thriving, others still face hurdles. Stay tuned as we unveil more insights and forecasts!
[1] Eurostat [Accessed 16th June 2025][2] Trading Economics [Accessed 16th June 2025][3] European Commission [Accessed 16th June 2025][5] International Trade Administration [Accessed 16th June 2025]
- In the non-energy civil sectors of the processing industry, Cyprus showed a substantial growth of 3.0% in industrial production, a positive sign for the island's economy.
- The oil-and-gas sector, being an energy sector, was not directly covered in this analysis. However, the impressive growth in intermediate goods, excluding energy, indicates a strengthening business activity in core processing sectors outside the energy sector, such as finance, indicating potential opportunities for growth in those sectors.
