France: Industrial output contracts at sharpest rate since March 2023 in January
Industrial production fell 1.1% month on month in seasonally adjusted terms in January (December: +0.4% mom). The outturn marked the worst reading since March 2023. January’s weakening was largely driven by a deterioration in manufacturing production, as it expanded at the slowest pace since October 2022. In addition, mining and quarrying output weakened.
On an annual basis, factory output rose at a quicker rate of 0.8% in January (December: +0.5% yoy). Accordingly, the trend improved modestly, with the annual average growth of industrial production coming in at 0.6%, up from December’s 0.4%.
Charlotte de Montpellier, senior economist at ING commented on the outlook:
“Looking ahead, the survey data seems to point to a recovery in industrial production over the coming months. Although still weak, confidence in the sector is improving, order books are no longer deteriorating, and inventories have been reduced, all of which raise hopes of a rise in production in the coming months. However, this increase is likely to be very gradual and would only have a favourable impact on GDP growth in the second quarter.”