La production industrielle allemande a fortement diminué en avril

German industrial production has sharply fallen in April, and new orders have also decreased, according to official data, indicating a slowdown in the leading European economy.

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Industrial production fell by one percent in April compared to the previous month when it rose by 1.7 percent, the Ministry of Economy and Energy reported today.

The production of consumer and intermediate goods decreased the most, by 2.1 and 2.0 percent, respectively.

A decline in production was also recorded in the energy sector, by 1.6 percent.

A bright spot was the construction sector with a production jump of 3.3 percent.

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Fears of a slowdown in the largest European economy are further fueled by yesterday’s data from the ministry on the decline in new orders in the industry in April, by 2.5 percent compared to March when they decreased by 1.1 percent.

The most significant drop was in orders from the Eurozone, by 9.9 percent, which was not compensated for by a 5.4 percent increase in demand from third countries.

The ministry notes that the beginning of the second quarter was « weak » for industrial production, citing among the reasons a large number of public holidays.

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Given the continuous decline in new orders, they admit that « industry growth is likely to slow down » in the near future.

« The economy is undoubtedly stagnating, unable to accelerate, » states ING Diba bank analyst Carsten Brzeski.

It is becoming increasingly difficult, according to him, to justify the weak start of the year with one-off factors, such as public holidays.

« It seems that supply-side constraints are increasingly dampening the growth prospects for Germany, » he explains.

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Separately, the state statistical office reported today a decline in the seasonally and calendar-adjusted German trade surplus in April to 19.4 billion euros, down from nearly 22 billion in March.

Exports were almost stagnant compared to March while imports jumped by 2.2 percent.

Germany’s trading partners in Europe and the US are likely to be satisfied with the significant increase in imports as they often complain that Germany does not make enough effort to stimulate domestic demand.

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Among the loudest critics of the chronic imbalance is US President Donald Trump, who has threatened, among other things, tariffs on car imports that would particularly hit the German automotive industry hard.