Development of production in the manufacturing sector - reporting month November 2023

According to the Federal Statistical Office, production in the manufacturing sector fell by 0.7% in November compared to the previous month. This continued the downward trend that has been evident since spring last year. In November, there were further declines in industry and construction (-0.5% and -2.9% respectively), while the energy sector once again reported a significant increase (+3.9%).

Within industry, different developments were observed in the individual economic sectors in November: The weighty sectors of motor vehicles and parts and electrical equipment reported decreases in their output of 0.6% and 3.3% respectively; there were also declines in pharmaceutical products (-3.8%) and data processing equipment, electrical and optical products (-5.7%). By contrast, there was an increase of +1.1% in the important mechanical engineering sector, as well as in the energy-intensive industrial sectors as a whole (+3.1%), which was distributed across the five sectors as follows: chemical products (+5.1%), coking and petroleum refining (+3.2%), paper and cardboard (+2.6%), glass, glassware and ceramics (+1.8%) and metal production and processing (+0.5%).

Industrial production in November was 1.9% below its average level in the third quarter, meaning that another noticeable decline is expected for the fourth quarter as a whole. In view of current early indicators such as incoming orders and the business climate, a rapid turnaround in the industrial economy cannot be expected.

Source: BMWK