According to preliminary data from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), the season- and calendar-adjusted production in the manufacturing industry decreased by 1.4 percent in April 2025 compared to March 2025.
In the less volatile three-month comparison, production from February 2025 to April 2025 was 0.5 percent higher than in the previous three months. In March 2025, production rose by 2.3 percent compared to February 2025, after the preliminary results were revised, with an initial value of a 3.0 percent increase. In comparison to the same month in the previous year, April 2024, production in April 2025 was 1.8 percent lower, calendar-adjusted.
The negative trend in the manufacturing industry in April 2025 was widespread, affecting many economic sectors. The production in the pharmaceutical industry, for instance, season- and calendar-adjusted, decreased by 17.7 percent compared to the previous month, after having increased by 19.3 percent in March 2025. The decline in the production of machinery (-2.4 percent) also had a negative impact on the overall result in April 2025. On the other hand, the production in the construction industry (+1.4 percent) and in the food industry (+5.7 percent) developed positively.
Industrial production (manufacturing, excluding energy and construction), adjusted for season and calendar, decreased by 1.9 percent in April 2025 compared to March 2025. Within the industry, the production of investment goods decreased by 2.3 percent, of intermediate goods by 1.9 percent and of consumer goods by 1.5 percent. Outside the industry, energy production decreased by 1.6 percent.
Compared to the same month in the previous year, April 2024, industrial production, calendar-adjusted, decreased by 2.5 percent.
In the energy-intensive industries, production in April 2025, season- and calendar-adjusted, decreased by 2.1 percent compared to March 2025. In the three-month comparison, production in the energy-intensive industries from February 2025 to April 2025 was 0.8 percent higher than in the previous three months. In comparison to the same month in the previous year, April 2024, the energy-intensive production in April 2025, calendar-adjusted, was 2.7 percent lower, according to the Federal Statistical Office.