Industry up in Europe but who is buying?

Eurozone seasonally adjusted industrial production rose 1.8% in the month of November 2013 and by 1.5% in the EU28, according to estimates from Eurostat, 

 In October, industrial production fell by 0.8% and 0.5% respectively.

The highest increases were registered in

•  Ireland(+11.7%)
• Sweden (+6.4%)
• Malta (+3.8%)
• Croatia (+3.0%)
• the Netherlands (+2.5%) 
•  Germany (+2.4%)

the largest decreases in

•  Lithuania (-3.5%)
• Denmark (-3%) 
• Greece (-2.2%).

In November 2013, compared with November 2012, industrial production increased by 3% in both the eurozone and the EU28.

However Eurostat also released figures for retail sales in October. They showed a 0.2% drop in volumes from September, itself a month during which sales fell by 0.6%.

On the brighter side the trade surplus for the Eurozone, unadjusted for seasonal swings, was 13.1 billion euros ($17.65 billion) in September, compared with 8.6 billion euro surplus in the same period last year.