German industrial production unexpectedly falls

German industrial production fell in January, missing forecasts for an increase, statistics office Destatis said Monday. Total industrial output comprising production in manufacturing, energy and construction fell 2.5% compared with December in calendar-adjusted terms. Economists had forecast a 0.2% increase, according to a poll by The Wall Street Journal.

Destatis upwardly revised December's industrial production on-month gain to 1.9% from an earlier 0.0%. January's total industrial output fell 3.9% from a year earlier in calendar-adjusted terms.

Compared with February 2020, the month before the first restrictions were imposed in Germany because of the Covid-19 pandemic production in January was 4.2% lower in seasonally and calendar-adjusted terms. Excluding energy and construction, industrial output was down 0.5% in January from December. The production of intermediate goods showed a 0.7% increase and that of consumer goods fell 3.0%. On the other hand, output of capital goods decreased 0.8%.

Outside industry, energy production was up 0.6% in January and output in construction declined 12.2% following the strong increase recorded in December. The industrial production data followed Friday's publication of manufacturing orders data for January, which showed a 1.4% month-on-month increase on an adjusted basis.