Industrial production falls the most in over three years in August

Latest reading: Industrial production declined 4.3% on a calendar-adjusted month-on-month basis in August, following 1.3% growth in the prior month and marking the steepest decline since March 2022. Relative to the prior month's figures, readings in August worsened for industrial production (-5.5% mom s.a. vs +1.7% in July) and mining and quarrying output (-1.2% vs +4.9% in July). In contrast, readings picked up for energy (-0.5% vs -1.5% in July) and construction output (+0.6% vs +0.1% in July). On a calendar-adjusted month-on-month basis, industrial production declined 3.9% in August, following a 1.5% increase in the previous month.

Panelist insight: Commenting on the outlook, ING’s Carsten Brzeski stated: “Hope remains that the fiscal stimulus, and particularly defence spending, could still feed through to industry over the coming months. If not, the long to-do list of the German government will get even longer, with the next item being the need for traditional short-term stimulus – or at least a stabilisation package.”

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