BERLIN: German industrial production unexpectedly fell 0.4% in October compared to the previous month, the federal statistics office said on Thursday, marking the fifth monthly decline in a row.

The drop was due largely to a decline in production at the mechanical engineering sector, the office said. Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted a 0.2% rise.

German industrial orders rise by 3.2% in December

In September, production fell 1.3% month-on-month, according to revised data compared to an reported decline of 1.4%.initially The office published more detailed data on its website.