The industrial production of Germany, Europe's largest economy, plummeted by 17.9 percent in April from the previous month and even 25.3 percent compared with the same month last year, according to provisional figures published by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on Monday.
The German industrial production continued its downward trend after decreasing by 8.9 percent month-on-month in March, according to Destatis. In February, production had grown slightly by 0.3 percent.
The overall slump in industrial production was mainly caused by the German government's restrictions which came into effect in mid-March in order to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus, according to the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.
April's production figures were believed to have fully reflected the reduction in social and economic activities in Germany before the gradual easing of measures had started. "The economic low point has thus been reached," the ministry commented on Monday.
Germany's car industry was particularly hit by the lockdown in April. Destatis recorded a sharp drop in production by 74.6 percent. According to the German association of the automotive industry (VDA), new passenger car registrations plummeted by 35 percent in the first five months of the year.
Last week, the German government presented an economic stimulus package worth 130 billion euros (146.6 billion U.S. dollars) to mitigate the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, including a premium on buying electrified cars.
German carmakers, including Volkswagen and Daimler, however, had demanded a general premium also including combustion engine-powered cars in recent weeks.
The influential ifo Institute expected the decline in the overall production of the German car industry to continue over the next three months, albeit at a slower rate.
Already struggling at the start of the year, the COVID-19 pandemic has rattled Germany's export-focused economy, which slipped into a technical recession in the first quarter of 2020, German news agency dpa reported on Monday.
The full force of the crisis is expected to hit Europe's largest economy in the second quarter. According to the government's own estimate, gross domestic product is expected to slump by 6.3 percent this year, which would be the worst annual recession in the country's post-World War II history, dpa said.
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