Real manufacturing output in Germany fell by 0.5 percent in January 2026 compared with December, after seasonal and calendar adjustments.
In a less volatile three‑month comparison, production from November 2025 to January 2026 rose 0.9 percent versus the preceding three months, according to preliminary figures released by the German statistical office (Destatis) on Monday.
In December 2025, after a revision of the preliminary results, production dropped 1.0 percent against November 2025 (the prior provisional value was -1.9 percent).
Against the same month a year earlier, January 2026 production was 1.2 percent lower on a calendar‑adjusted basis.
The month‑to‑month decline was largely driven by a 12.4 percent drop in the production of metal products. Losses in the pharmaceutical industry (-11.9 percent) and in the manufacturing of data‑processing equipment, electronic, and optical products (-6.8 percent) also weighed on the overall figure.
Conversely, energy production surged by 10.3 percent. This sharp rise may stem from the exceptionally low temperatures in January 2026. The high number of ice‑and‑frost days could have adversely affected construction deep‑works (roads, railways, bridges, and tunnels). Production in deep‑works fell 7.5 percent in January 2026, while overall construction output grew 2.9 percent.
Industry production-manufacturing excluding energy and construction-declined 2.5 percent in January 2026 versus December 2025 after seasonal and calendar adjustments. Consumer‑goods output fell 4.2 percent, intermediary‑goods output 2.6 percent, and investment‑goods output 1.6 percent. Compared with January 2025, industry production was 2.6 percent lower on a calendar‑adjusted basis.
Production in energy‑intensive industries fell 0.8 percent in January 2026 versus December 2025 after seasonal and calendar adjustments. In the three‑month moving average, these industries produced 1.8 percent less from November 2025 to January 2026 than in the previous three months. Relative to January 2025, energy‑intensive production was 4.3 percent lower on a calendar‑adjusted basis.
