FRANKFURT: Germany's industrial production fell for the seventh consecutive month in December, official figures showed on Wednesday, ending a year of weakness in manufacturing in Europe's largest economy.
Production fell by 1.6% month-on-month, with a revised 0.2% drop in November, according to the Federal Statistical Office Destatis.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected a smaller decline of 0.35% in December.
The sharper-than-expected drop was due to sharp declines in the chemical and construction sectors.
Meanwhile, production in the auto industry increased by 4%.
Destatis said industrial production for all of 2023 was down 1.5% from a year earlier, still below pre-pandemic levels.
Energy-intensive industries such as glass and ceramics production were hardest hit, with output down more than 10% year-on-year.
Chemical industry output has fallen to its lowest level since 1995, Destatis said.
Germany's vital industrial sector, once heavily dependent on cheap gas imports from Russia, has been reeling since Russia's invasion of Ukraine sent energy costs soaring.
Rising interest rates and weak export demand added to the economic headwinds, causing Germany's gross domestic product (GDP) to contract by 0.3% in 2023.
“Industry continues to be a significant drag on growth,” said Franziska Palmas, an economist at Capital Economics. “We expect this to continue until 2024,” she said.
