BERLIN (Reuters) – German industrial production fell 0.2 percent in August from the previous month, slightly more than expected, the Federal Statistical Office said on Monday.
This is the fourth consecutive decline in industrial production in the euro zone’s largest economy.
Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast a decline of 0.1%.
A 2.4% drop in production in construction, 6.6% in energy and 2.3% in machinery and equipment manufacturing hurt overall performance in August, data shows .
Franziska Palmas, chief Europe economist at Capital Economics, notes that the new slowdown is due to volatile elements but stresses that high interest rates and falling demand risk causing a further contraction in the coming months. come.
“This is one of the reasons why we expect German GDP to contract in the third and fourth quarter of this year,” she said.
Two consecutive quarters of decline meet the technical definition of a recession.
Industrial orders for their part increased by 3.9% in August due to an increase in demand for computer, electronic and optical products, but the outlook for the sector remains difficult, said the Statistical Office.
“Thin order books, despite last week’s rise, and high inventories indicate that German industrial production will continue to move sideways rather than gaining momentum soon,” said Carsten Brzeski, an analyst at ING .
Reuters reported last week that the German government expected the economy to contract by 0.4% this year.
(Written by Friederike Heine, Diana Mandiá, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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