German industrial production dropped by almost a quarter year-on-year in February, recording its biggest annual fall since reunification in 1990, official figures showed today.
The 23.2-per cent slump followed an annual fall of 21.4 per cent in January, highlighting the economy's weak start to this year after it contracted by 2.1 per cent in the final quarter of 2008 - its worst quarter since reunification.
On the month, production fell by 2.9 per cent in February, and a recent slump in orders pointed to further weakness in output in the coming months, the Economy Ministry said in a statement accompanying its release of the figures.
“February's drop in German industrial production confirms that the sector is still in dire straits and suggests that GDP could fall much more sharply in Q1 than in Q4,” said Jennifer McKeown, economist at Capital Economics in London.
The seasonally adjusted month-on-month drop was the sixth in a row and compared with the consensus forecast in a Reuters poll of 32 economists last week for a fall of 3.1 per cent.
A breakdown of the latest output data showed manufacturing production was down by 3.3 per cent on the month, with construction up 1.9 per cent and energy output down 2.6 per cent.
Capital goods production fell 4.5 per cent on the month.
Reuters