Frankfurt (Germany) (AFP) – A rebound in car production gave German factory output a bigger boost than expected in September, official data showed Friday, the latest sign Europe’s largest economy was gaining strength. Auto sector production jumped around 17 percent from a month earlier following a sluggish period caused largely by factory holidays and plant maintenance over the summer.
It was nevertheless some rare good news from an industry that has been hard hit by fierce Chinese competition, falling demand, and rising costs. This helped lift overall industrial production by 0.7 percent for the month, said statistics agency Destatis, above analyst expectations of a far smaller increase. The economy ministry said the data “helped offset the declines in industrial production seen in the middle of the year,” caused by factors like higher energy costs linked to the Middle East war and low water levels on rivers.
Germany’s economy is struggling to pull itself out of long decline driven by weakening demand for its exports, Chinese competition, and a range of deep-rooted problems. But the manufacturing powerhouse is expected to notch up its fastest growth for several years in 2026, in large part due to a public spending blitz on defence and infrastructure.
September’s factory data was also helped by the pharmaceutical sector, which registered eight percent growth. But there were falls in the construction sector and in manufacturing of machinery and equipment, Destatis said.
Despite September’s positive data, Dirk Schumacher, chief economist at German public lender KfW, cautioned that the economy continued to face headwinds. “There remains a long list of risk factors that could bring the industrial recovery to an end before it has even really got going,” he said. “The nervousness in the financial markets regarding the further expansion of AI infrastructure is just one example of this.”
© 2024 AFP
