Press release No. 264 of 8 June 2021

Production in industry
April 2021 (provisional):
-1.0% on the previous month (price, seasonally and calendar adjusted)
+26.4% on the same month a year earlier (price and calendar adjusted)

March 2021 (revised):
+2.2% on the previous month (price, seasonally and calendar adjusted)
+4.8% on the same month a year earlier (price and calendar adjusted)

WIESBADEN – In April 2021, production in industry was down by 1.0% on the previous month on a price, seasonally and calendar adjusted basis according to provisional data of the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). Compared with April 2020, the increase in calendar adjusted production in industry amounted to 26.4%, when many enterprises had reduced, or temporarily stopped production. Compared with February 2020, the month before restrictions were imposed due to the corona pandemic in Germany, production in April 2021 was 5.6% lower in seasonally and calendar adjusted terms.

In April 2021, production in industry excluding energy and construction was down by 0.7%. Within industry, the production of consumer goods showed a decrease of 3.3% and the production of intermediate goods of 0.2%. The production of capital goods decreased by 0.1%. Outside industry, energy production was up by 6.0% in April 2021 and the production in construction decreased by 4.3%.

In March 2021, the corrected figure on the production in industry showed an increase of 2.2% (provisional: +2.5%) from February 2021.

The rates of change refer to the production index for industry (2015 = 100). Seasonal and calendar adjustment was made using the X-13 JDemetra+ method.

Basic data and long time series on the production index in industry are also available in the table "Index of production in manufacturing" (42153-0001) in the GENESIS-Online database.

Methodological notes:

The differing comparative periods must be taken into account in all press releases on short-term indicators. Short-term economic monitoring focuses on comparisons with the previous month or previous quarter. These reflect short-term economic trends. A calendar adjusted comparison with the previous year is intended to offer a long-term comparison of levels and is not subject to seasonal fluctuations or calendar effects. Due to strong temporary decreases and increases during the current coronavirus crisis, the results of month-on-month/quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year comparisons may differ considerably. In order to provide also a direct comparison with the pre-crisis level, all press releases on short-term indicators available in seasonally adjusted form will, for the time being, include a comparison with February 2020 or the fourth quarter of 2019.

Crisis Monitor enables comparison between corona crisis and financial/economic crisis
The production index is also part of the "Crisis Monitor" (www.destatis.de/krisenmonitor), which is used by the Federal Statistical Office to compare the development of major short-term indicators between the corona crisis and the financial and economic crisis of 2008/2009. The "Crisis monitor" complements the "Corona statistics" webpage (www.destatis.de/corona), which has provided statistical information on the economic and social consequences of the corona pandemic.