Germany’s industrial production showed a slight increase in April 2023, with a growth of 0.3% compared to the previous month, according to provisional data from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). However, the revised figures for March 2023 indicated a decrease of 2.1% compared to the previous month. On a year-on-year basis, industrial production in April 2023 rose by 1.6%.
The construction sector played a significant role in the positive performance, with a 2.0% increase in production compared to the previous month, following a decline in March. The manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations also contributed positively. On the other hand, the production of motor vehicles and parts as well as engineering experienced negative impacts.
Excluding energy and construction, industrial production in April 2023 increased by 0.1% compared to March 2023. The production of consumer goods saw a notable rise of 1.5%, while capital goods and intermediate goods production declined by 0.3% and 0.2% respectively. Energy production witnessed a decrease of 1.5% compared to the previous month.
In terms of year-on-year comparisons, calendar-adjusted industrial production in April 2023 was 1.6% higher. When excluding energy and construction, there was a notable increase of 2.7% compared to April 2022.
However, the energy-intensive industrial branches experienced a decrease of 1.1% in production compared to March 2023, and a significant decline of 12.9% compared to April 2022.
It is important to consider that the Covid-19 crisis and the war in Ukraine may have influenced the results of month-on-month, quarter-on-quarter, and year-on-year comparisons.
Overall, the latest data provides insights into the performance of Germany’s industrial production, highlighting both positive and negative trends across different sectors.