Italy industry output falls in February as economy struggles

ROME (Reuters) - Italian industrial output fell 0.9% in February from the month before, broadly in line with market expectations, data showed on Thursday, offering no sign of a pick-up for the country's struggling economy.

A Reuters survey of 11 analysts had pointed to a 1.0% decline.

On a work day-adjusted year-on-year basis, industrial output in the euro zone's third largest economy was down in February by 2.7% versus a forecast for a 1.9% fall, marking the 25th consecutive decline.

The Italian economy grew by 0.7% in 2024, below the government's official 1% forecast. It eked out growth of 0.1% in the fourth quarter after stagnating in the previous three months.

Italy's Treasury on Wednesday slashed the growth forecast for this year to 0.6% from a 1.2% target set in September.

Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said in presenting the government's new forecasts that the 90-day suspension of many U.S. trade tariffs announced by President Donald Trump offered some hope that the growth forecast could be raised in the future.

Italy, which has a large trade surplus with the United States, would be subject to a general tariff of 20% along with the rest of the European Union.

The Bank of Italy has forecast that U.S. tariffs, if confirmed, would have a negative impact of more than half a percentage point on Italian growth in 2025-2027.

The central bank last week cut its forecast for Italy's growth to 0.5% this year, from 0.7% estimated in December.

(Reporting by Antonella Cinelli, editing by Gavin Jones)