Source: Sharecast
According to Destatis, the Federal Statistical Office, industrial production declined 1.4%, or by 1.8% year-on-year. Markets had been expecting a 1% fall.
It was also a notable change to March, when industrial production sparked by a revised 2.3%.
Destatis said the decline had been widespread among most sectors.
However, one of the biggest falls was in the pharmaceutical industry, which saw production plunge 17.7% following a 19.3% spike in March.
The manufacture of machinery and equipment was also lower, down 2.4%.
Partially offsetting the falls were construction and food, which reported 1.4% and 5.7% increases respectively.
Exports, meanwhile, slid 1.7% on the previous month, far more than the 0.5% decline pencilled in by analysts. Imports rose by 3.9%.
The balance of trade was €14.6bn, missing forecasts for €20.2bn.
Germany, the Eurozone’s biggest economy, exported goods worth €72.9bn to fellow European Union member states in April, up 0.9%.
But exports to the US tumbled 10.5%, the lowest level since October 2024.
Germany’s manufacturing sector benefited frontloading earlier in the year, as companies ramped up orders ahead of US tariffs coming into force
Donald Trump sweeping regime was announced on 2 April, but the US president had flagged long before that plans to hike tariffs. He also imposed sector-specific levies ahead of his so-called Liberation Day.
Carsten Brzeski, global head of macro at ING, said: “Today’s industrial production data reflects the feared reversal of the frontloading effect of the first quarter, and suggests that the structural weakens in industry is not over yet.
“At the same time, however, there are growing indications that the German industrial cycle is gradually turning, as industrial orders have also improved and inventory levels have started to fall.”