Brussels, Sep 3 (IANS): The industrial producer prices in the European Union (EU) increased by 0.4 per cent in July from the previous month, Eurostat said Wednesday.

In July, Covid-19 restrictive measures still remained in place while being gradually lifted in various EU member states, Xinhua news agency reported.

Industrial producer prices registered 0.6 per cent increase in the eurozone, the EU's statistical office said. In June 2020, prices increased by 0.7 per cent in the euro area and by 0.8 per cent in the EU.

In July, the highest month-on-month increases in industrial producer prices were recorded in Belgium (+2.3 per cent) and Spain (+1.8 per cent), while the largest decreases were observed in Cyprus (-2.2 per cent) and Estonia (-2.1 per cent).

When compared with the pre-Covid period in July 2019, industrial producer prices decreased by 3.3 per cent in the euro area and by 3 per cent in the EU.

The largest year-on-year decreases in industrial producer prices were observed in Lithuania (-8.5 per cent) and Cyprus (-6.7 per cent), whereas the only increases were recorded in Malta (+1.7 per cent), Slovenia and Slovakia (both +0.3 per cent).