Industrial output declined 0.4% on the month. Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted a 0.2% rise.

The drop was due largely to a decline in production at the mechanical engineering sector of 6.3% on the month, the office said. However, production also fell in many other sectors, including construction.

“The misery of German industrial production continues,” said Thomas Gitzel, chief economist at VP Bank Group.

The weak order intake of the past two years is now having a merciless impact on production, he said.

German industrial orders also fell unexpectedly in October, declining by 3.7% on the previous month on a seasonally and calendar adjusted basis, data showed on Wednesday.

The German industrial sector continues to suffer from a combination of high energy prices, weak foreign demand and less favourable financing conditions, Commerzbank’s senior economist Ralph Solveen said.

“Thursday’s figures are in line with the expectation that the German economy will continue to shrink in the fourth quarter,” Solveen said.

In September, industrial production fell 1.3% month-on-month, according to revised data compared to an reported decline of 1.4% initially.

The less volatile three-month on three-month comparison showed that production was 1.9% lower in the period from August to October 2023 than in the previous three months.

“It looks likely that the industrial recession will drag on for some time yet,” Capital Economics’ chief Europe economist Andrew Kenningham said.