Official figures show that industrial production across the 17 European unio countries that use the euro fell by 0.4 per cent in January.

Eurostat, the EUs statistics office, added Tuesday that production for durable consumer goods in the eurozone fell by 1.4 per cent, with capital good manufacturing dropping by 1.2 per cent. Among the eurozone member countries that reported production figures, Germany registered a 0.4 per cent decline, France a dro of 1.2 per cent and Finland a fall of 4.1 per cent.

The 17-country eurozone is currently stuck in a recession and is not expected to recover until the latter part of this year. Unemployment in the region is at an all-time high of 11.9 per cent.

Industrial output across the wider 27-member EU also fell by 0.4 per cent for January, Eurostat added.