Germany: Industrial production recovers in September
Latest reading: Industrial production was up 1.3% on a calendar-adjusted month-on-month basis in September, following the previous month’s 3.7% decline, which was the sharpest since March 2022.
Relative to the prior month’s data, readings in September improved for manufacturing production (+1.9% on a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis vs -4.7% in August)—due to a recovery in output in the automotive industry—mining and quarrying (+2.4% vs -0.8% in August) and energy (+1.3% vs +0.4% in August). In contrast, the reading for the construction sector softened in September (-0.9% vs -0.2% in August).
In calendar-adjusted year-on-year terms, industrial production was down 1.0% in September, following a 3.6% drop in the prior month.
Panelist insight: Carsten Brzeski from ING commented on the outlook:
“In short, [September’s] industrial production data shows weak signs of life. Over the coming months, industrial production should show very tentative improvements. However, any of these improvements will be of a cyclical nature, coming from very low levels, and should not be mistaken for structural improvements.”