Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on May 2, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 24, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleGerman factory output showed recovery signs in April 2024, with PMI rising to 48.4. Production and export sales increased, but future business optimism declined.
BERLIN (Reuters) -
Germany's manufacturing sector contracted at the slowest rate in more than 2-1/2 years in April as output rose at the quickest rate for more than three years, a business survey showed on Friday.
The HCOB Germany Manufacturing PMI compiled by S&P Global rose to 48.4 in April from 48.3 in March, taking the index to its highest level since August 2022, although remaining below the 50.0 threshold indicating growth.
April saw a consecutive rise in production levels across the sector, with growth accelerating to the fastest since March 2022, supported by a stronger expansion in investment goods.
New orders also increased for the second month, though at a slower pace, with export sales rising marginally for the first time since early 2022, the survey showed.
Cyrus de la Rubia, chief economist at Hamburg Commercial Bank AG, sounded a note of caution on the figures, however.
"It is quite possible that the expansion in production over the past two months is due to pull-forward effects in connection with the impending US tariff increases, which means that there might be a backlash in the coming months," he said.
Germany is expected to be hit hard by tariffs due to its export-oriented economy. The U.S. was Germany's biggest trading partner in 2024 with two-way goods trade totalling 253 billion euros.
Despite the positive output trends, manufacturers' optimism over future business sank to its lowest level in four months.
(Reporting by Maria Martinez; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
The article discusses the recovery signs in German factory output in April 2024, as indicated by the PMI report.
The PMI rose to 48.4 in April from 48.3 in March, indicating a slower contraction rate.
The increase in production was supported by stronger expansion in investment goods and a rise in new orders.
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