Industrial output in Germany increased more than expected during the month of January.
The German Federal Statistics Office said on Friday that the country’s industrial output rose by 1 percent on a monthly basis in January.
Analysts had expected an increase of 0.6 percent in a Reuters poll.
In December, industrial output in Europe’s largest economy contracted by 2 percent.
The German economy contracted in 2023 due to continued inflation, high energy prices and weak external demand, but it avoided recession at the end of the year.
Last January, the Federal Statistics Office said that the gross domestic product contracted by 0.3 percent during the entire year 2023.
“Comprehensive economic development faltered in Germany in 2023 in an environment still characterized by multiple crises,” Ruth Brand, head of the statistics office, said at the time.
The decline in gross domestic product for the full year was in line with the expectations of analysts polled by Reuters.
Last February, Wolfgang Schmidt, Chief of Staff of German Chancellor Olaf Schulz, said that Germany is not suffering from a recession, and that its economy is expected to grow in 2024.
“We don’t have a recession,” Schmidt said at an industry event. “We don’t see anything that usually accompanies a recession like unemployment. The labor market is very stable and real wages are rising again. We will see growth this year.”
