Romania leads the industrial price rise in 2007

The price of industrial production increased 1.6 percent in December compared to November, the highest monthly price increase in the European Union. Prices rose 10.1 percent year-on-year, situating Romania in 4th place in the EU in terms of price increases.

The price of industrial production (PIP) measures changes in sales prices of goods by national producers, including mining, agriculture, electricity, extraction industry, etc. To be more precise, these are the prices at which national suppliers sell to the population and companies. Furthermore, statistics are made up of two categories: industrial segments (extraction industry, processing industry, etc.) and industrial groups (types of produced goods, regardless of industry, like capital assets, long-term consumer goods, etc.).

This is the first time that Romania and Bulgaria are at either ends of the classification. Romania is in first place in terms of price rises while Bulgaria comes in last. Prices in Bulgaria dropped by 1.1 percent in December 2007 month-on-month, but industrial production prices rose 11.3 percent in December 2007 year-on-year.

Eurostat data is virtually identical with that of the National Institute of Statistics (INS). The situation is slightly different in annual reports. According to INS, industrial production prices grew by 10.5 percent in December 2007 year-on-year. Prices rose significantly in the energy industry and for consumer goods, 13.1 percent and 11.7 percent, respectively.