Industrial production in Germany decreased by 0.2% m/m in August

Experts expected a drop of 0.1%

In August 2023, the volume of industrial production in Germany decreased by 0.2% compared to the previous month. Compared to August 2022, the indicator decreased by 2%. This is evidenced by preliminary data of the Federal Statistical Office of Germany (Destatis).

Experts, the average estimate of which is given by Trading Economics, expected a decrease in the indicator by 0.8% m/m.

During the volatile period, June-August 2023, industrial production in Germany fell by 1.9% compared to March-May. In July, industrial production in the country decreased by 0.6% m/m according to the reviewed data. A decrease of 0.8% was previously reported.

The overall result in August was negatively affected by a drop in production in the construction industry by 2.4% m/m and in electricity production – by 6.6% m/m. Production in machine building decreased by 2.3% m/m. At the same time, the growth in the automotive industry was 7.6% m/m contributed to a moderate drop in the overall indicator.

Output of production in August increased by 1.3% m/m, intermediate goods – by 0.5% m/m, while production of consumer goods fell by 1.4% m/m.

As GMK Center reported earlier, inflation in the Eurozone in August 2023 increased by 5.3% y/y, remaining at the level of July. In June 2023, this indicator was 5.5%, in May – 6.1%, and in April – 7%.

Also, the European Commission worsened the prognosis of growth in the eurozone economy for 2023 and 2024, as inflation is still too high, consumer spending declines and Germany, the region’s largest economy, slips into recession. It is expected that the GDP of the Eurozone will grow by 0.8% in 2023 and by 1.3% in 2024. These figures are lower than the May forecasts of 1.1% and 1.6%, respectively.