Data published by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) showed that industrial production fell by 1.3% in February, partially offsetting the January increase (+2%, the strongest growth since August 2024). Economists had expected a decline of 1.1%. In annual terms, industrial production fell by 4.0% after a 1.6% decline in January. Meanwhile, over the last three months (through February), industrial production grew by 0.1% compared to the previous three-month period.
Destatis said that the February change was mainly attributable to the decline seen in the construction industry (-3.2% m/m), food industry (-5.3% m/m) and energy production (-3.3% m/m). By contrast, production increased by 3.3% in the manufacture of electrical equipment. Production in industry excluding energy and construction fell by 0.5% mom and by 4.1% compared with February 2024.
Intermediate goods production fell by 0.4% m/m. The production of capital goods increased by 0.2%, while the production of consumer goods fell by 3.0%. Production in energy-intensive industrial branches fell by 0.6% m/m and by 4.0% per annum. A three-month on three-month comparison showed that production in energy-intensive industrial branches was 0.1% lower in the period from December 2024 to February 2025 than in the previous three months.