Portugal had the biggest industrial production growth in the European Union in May 2012 compared with April 2012, with industrial production growing by 4.1% in Portugal, the European Union’s statistics agency Eurostat said on Thursday.

May’s growth was preceded by a 6.5% drop in April 2012. However, when comparing it to May 2011, industrial production fell 6.7%, the fourth worst performance in the EU.

In the eurozone, Germany followed Portugal with a 1.5% growth in May compared to the previous month.

Overall, industrial production in the EU increased 0.5% in May in comparison with April but fell 2.3% on the year.

In the eurozone, industrial production saw a 0.6% increase on the month but dropped 2.8% on the year.