Press release No. 177 of 8 May 2023
Production in industry, March 2023 (in real terms, provisional):
-3.4% on the previous month (seasonally and calendar adjusted)
+1.8% on the same month a year earlier (calendar adjusted)
February 2023 (in real terms, revised)
+2.1% on the previous month (seasonally and calendar adjusted)
+0.7% on the same month a year earlier (calendar adjusted)
WIESBADEN – In March 2023, production in industry in real terms was down by 3.4% on the previous month on a price, seasonally and calendar adjusted basis, according to provisional data provided by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). This decrease follows an increase of production in industry by 2.1% in February 2023 (provisional figure: 2.0%). Considering the 1st quarter of the year 2023, production was 2.5% higher compared with the 4th quarter of the previous year.
A particularly large contribution to the decrease in production in industry was due to the automotive industry. After an increase of 6.9% in February 2023, the manufacture of motor vehicles and parts thereof fell by 6.5% seasonally and calendar adjusted on the previous month. Decreases in the manufacture of machinery and equipment (-3.4%) and the production in construction (-4.6%) also accounted for a large share of the significant decrease in total production.
In March 2023, production in industry excluding energy and construction was down by 3.3% compared with February 2023 in seasonally and calendar adjusted terms. The production of capital goods decreased by 4.4%, the production of intermediate goods by 3.5% and the production of consumer goods by 0.1% in March 2023 compared with the previous month. Whereas, energy production rose by 0.8% compared with the previous month. As mentioned above, production in construction fell by 4.6%.
Compared with March 2022, calendar adjusted production in industry in March 2023 was 1.8% higher. Calendar adjusted production in industry excluding energy and construction increased by 3.6% compared with March 2022.
Decrease in production in energy-intensive industrial branches
In March 2023, production in the energy-intensive industrial branches was down by 3.3% compared to February 2023. Production in energy-intensive industrial branches in March 2023 was 12.9% lower than in March 2022, when the effects of rising energy prices following the war in Ukraine were still relatively low. An analysis of the Production index for energy-intensive industrial branches (only in German) is available on the “Industry, manufacturing” page of the Federal Statistical Office’s website.
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 of seasonally and calendar adjusted figures with those of the previous month or previous quarter. These reflect short-term economic trends. Year-on-year comparisons of calendar adjusted results permit long-term comparisons of levels and are not influenced by seasonal fluctuations and calendar effects. The results of month-on-month, quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year comparisons may differ considerably because of the Covid-19 crisis and the war in Ukraine.
The rates of change are based on the production index for industry. The average figure for 2015 is used as the basis of the index and set to 100 index points (2015 = 100). Seasonal and calendar adjustment is performed using the X13 JDemetra+ method.
The five branches referred to here as energy-intensive have particularly high energy demands in relation to their gross value added. In the reference year of 2020, they together accounted for 76% of total industrial energy consumption. Their proportion of industrial gross value added stood at 21%. In 2020, just under one million people (935,000) were employed in the more than 7,000 industrial establishments of these branches in Germany.
More information:
Basic data and long time series on the production index for industry can be found in the table Indizes der Produktion (42153-0001) in the GENESIS-Online database. The time series of the production index for energy-intensive industrial branches (only in German) is available there from 2005 onwards.
A dossier on the Short-term indicators page of the Federal Statistical Office's website provides an analysis of the relationship between material shortages, new orders, production and prices in industry. Detailed information on production in energy-intensive industrial branches (only in German) is available on the “Industry, manufacturing” page.
The production index is also available in the Dashboard Germany (www.dashboard-deutschland.de) (only in German). This data portal of the Federal Statistical Office combines up-to-date indicators from official statistics producers and other data providers on the topics of economy, finance, health and mobility. The portal also contains the Economic Pulse Monitor (Pulsmesser für die Wirtschaft) (only in German) tool, which can be used for real-time monitoring of the economic development.
Russia’s attack on Ukraine and the related sanctions are having an impact on many parts of the economy and society. Relevant data and information are provided on a special webpage (only in German) (www.destatis.de/ukraine).
