Germany: Industrial output expands in August

In August, industrial production increased 2.6% from the previous month in seasonally and working-day adjusted terms, contrasting the small 0.1% contraction in July. The result significantly overshot market expectations of a moderate 0.7% month-on-month rebound. August’s print was broad-based as all but one sub-sector recorded an expansion; the sole sub-sector recording a contraction was construction.

Compared to the same month of the previous year, growth in industrial production was 4.7% in August, up from the 4.2% year-on-year expansion registered in July (previously reported: +4.0% yoy). In August, annual average growth in industrial production was 2.4%, up from July’s 2.2% (previously reported: +2.1%).

Panelists polled by FocusEconomics expect industrial production to expand 2.5% in 2017, which is unchanged from last month’s forecast. For 2018, the panel sees industrial production increasing 1.9%, which is down 0.1 percentage points from last month’s forecast.