Data published by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) showed that industrial production increased by 2.9% in August, offsetting the July drop (-2.9%, revised from -2.4%). Economists had expected a 0.8% increase. In annual terms, industrial production fell by 2.7%, slowing compared to July (-5.6%). Meanwhile, over the last three months (through August), industrial production fell by 1.3% compared to the previous three-month period.
Destatis said that currently, production in the automotive industry fluctuates considerably from month to month and this has an impact on the monthly development of production in industry as a whole. In August, production of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers rose by 19.3%, following a decline of 8.2% in July.
The production of capital goods rose by 6.9%, the production of intermediate goods increased by 0.1%, and the production of consumer goods remained unchanged. Meanwhile, energy production increased by 2.3% m/m, and production in construction rose by 0.3% m/m. Production in industry excluding energy and construction increased by 3.4% m/m, but fell by 3.1% per annum. Production in energy-intensive industries increased by 0.1% compared to July and by 2.2% per annum.