ROME, Aug. 28 -- Industrial production in Italy declined more than 3 percent in the first six months of this year (H1) compared to the same period in 2023, though the key indicator was marginally improved compared to month prior.

ISTAT, Italy's National Statistics Institute, reported Wednesday that industrial production was down sharply by most measures compared to last year when it fell by 3.3 percent by volume and 3.7 percent by value.

The domestic market for industrial production contracted by 6.0 percent by value over the same period, though the foreign market bucked the trend, expanding by 0.6 percent over the preceding 12 months.

The measure of industrial production is a key indicator for economic growth, and the year-on-year trends could indicate a sign of weakness for the Italian economy, which has seen modest growth of between 0.1 percent and 0.3 percent per quarter since contracting by 0.2 percent in the second quarter of last year.

The ISTAT data did show an improvement in June compared to May, with industrial production turnover growing by 0.7 percent in volume and 0.1 percent by value.

The ISTAT statistics also showed that in June compared to May, turnover for the services sector decreased by 1.0 percent in volume and 0.7 percent in value.

  - Xinhua