German industrial turnover rose in January for the first time in year-on-year terms since the global financial crisis struck in 2008, the Federal Statistics Office reported today.
Turnover was up 2.6 per cent compared with January last year, marking the first annual increase since September 2008 when the collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers helped to tip the world economy into recession.
Export-dependent German industrial companies benefited from a pick-up in the global economy at the start of this year, with foreign turnover rising a real 7.3 per cent year-on-year in January. However, turnover shrank at home by 1.1 per cent.
Overall turnover was up 1.0 per cent month-on-month in January following a seasonally-adjusted drop of 0.8 per cent in December.
In all of 2009, industrial turnover dived 17.0 per cent, with foreign turnover down 20.3 per cent.
Economy ministry data today showed that German industrial output rose slightly less than expected in January as a harsh winter bit into construction activity, but a surge in orders pointed to an increase in activity soon.
Reuters