Bulgaria Leads EU in Producer Price Growth for July 2024

In July 2024, producer prices in the EU and the euro area saw an increase of 0.8% compared to June 2024, according to preliminary data from Eurostat. This follows a 0.6% rise in both regions during June 2024. Bulgaria reported the highest growth in producer prices within the EU, with an increase of 3.6% on a monthly basis. This is notable as, in the same month, producer prices in the EU decreased by 1.9% and by 2.1% in the euro area compared to July 2023.

The EU's industrial producer prices for July were stable month-on-month for intermediate goods, capital goods, and non-durable consumer goods, while energy goods prices rose by 2.5% and consumer durables prices dropped by 0.1%. In the euro area, prices for capital goods remained unchanged, intermediate goods and consumer durables saw a slight decline of 0.1%, and energy prices increased by 2.8%. Excluding energy, prices in the industrial sector were down by 0.1% in both the EU and the euro area.

On an annual basis, EU industrial producer prices in July 2024 fell by 1.2% for intermediate goods and by 5.9% for energy. However, there were increases of 1.5% for capital goods, 0.2% for durable consumer goods, and 0.9% for non-durable consumer goods. The euro area saw a similar trend with annual declines of 1.2% for intermediate goods and 6.9% for energy, while capital goods prices increased by 1.4%, consumer durables by 0.3%, and non-durable consumer goods by 1%.

The most significant declines in annual producer prices were observed in Slovakia (-18.9%), Luxembourg (-6.7%), and Latvia (-6%), while Ireland (+6.1%), Romania (+2.7%), and Portugal (+2%) saw the largest increases. In Bulgaria, producer prices in industry for July 2024 rose by 0.9% compared to the same month last year.