BERLIN, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- Following two months of decline, Germany's industrial production increased slightly by 0.3 percent in August from the previous month, the German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) revealed on Tuesday.
The German ministry of economy attributed the increase to the manufacturing sector which rose 0.7 percent from the previous month,
The production of intermediate goods in Germany's manufacturing sector rose by 1.0 percent and production of capital goods such as heavy machinery or plants increased by 1.1 percent, according to Destatis. Production of consumer goods decreased by 1.0 percent.
On a year-on-year basis, Germany's industrial production declined by 4.0 percent, marking the tenth consecutive month of year-on-year decline since October.
Germany's manufacturing sector would remain "in a downturn" despite the slight recovery, according to the German ministry of economy. The "weakness in demand" in manufacturing would continue, it said.
While Germany's manufacturing sector showed a slight upswing after the losses suffered in the previous two months, energy production as well as production in the German construction sector declined by 1.7 and 1.5 percent respectively in August.
"German industry remains in recession," Simon Junker, economic expert at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW), told Xinhua, adding the average of Germany's industrial production in July and August would be around "three-quarters of a percent lower" than in the second quarter of 2019.
Junker was expecting foreign demand to "gradually" recover, and that would give Germany's exporting companies in the industrial sector "a slightly more noticeable boost at the turn of the year".
