Unexpectedly strong relaxation
The biggest plus since 2022: Business increases production
Cars, machines, medication: The German economy unexpectedly produced a lot in March. This has to do not only with pulling effects because of Trump’s tariffs. Economists draw some hope.
In the German economy, production has increased as much as it has not been in more than three years. In March, industry, construction and energy suppliers made 3.0 percent more than in the previous month of February, as the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden announced. In the less fluctuation in three -month comparison, production was 1.4 percent higher in the first quarter than in the final quarter of 2024. “This is the significant increase in production in three months comparison since the beginning of 2022.”
In March alone, the industry produced 3.6 percent more than in the previous month. There were climbs in important industries such as Autobau (plus 8.1 %), pharmaceutical (plus 19.6 %) and mechanical engineering (plus 4.4 %). Production grew by 1.5 percent in the energy -intensive branches of industry, which include chemistry. Construction production rose by 2.1 percent.
The biggest plus since the beginning of the Ukraine War
The plus for industry in the quarterly comparison was the largest since the beginning of the Russian invasion in Ukraine 2022, economist Sebastian Dullien wrote from the Institute for Macroeconomics and economy research by the Hans Böckler Foundation. “This development indicates that the cyclical downturn in German industry comes towards an end.”
The reason for the strong plus of industrial production should not only be advanced effects because of the US tariffs, says Commerzbank chief economist Jörg Krämer. The recovery of the IFO business climate and the order inputs suggested that industrial production continue to increase. “But Trump’s customs shock and the lack of restart of German economic policy speak only for a weak relaxation in the medium term.”
dpa
Source: Stern
