German industrial output tumbled in January as Europes biggest economy and major exporter was pummelled by the global downturn, official figures showed on Wednesday. Industrial orders in January fell 8.0 percent from the previous month, according to an initial estimate from the economy ministry, accelerating from a downwardly revised 7.6 percent in December.
"The current hard industrial data confirm the absolutely ugly outlook for the German economy in the short term," UniCredit economist Alexander Koch said. Economists had expected the downturn to ease, pencilling in a much more modest drop of 2.4 percent for January.
Koch noted that on a 12-month basis, orders had shed a massive 35 percent, which "needless to say is a new record rate of decline." A ministry statement said: "The weaker trend resulted above all from a fall in foreign orders (minus 11.4 percent) and especially those from outside the eurozone (minus 18.2 percent)."
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