German industrial output fell by 4.6% in December from the previous month, figures released today by the economy ministry showed.
Analysts had expected a drop of 3.0% in production by Europe's biggest economy.
On a 12-month basis, output declined by 7.5% in December, a ministry statement said.
A traditional strong point of the German economy, machine tool production, was among the sectors that showed the biggest decline.
Output of intermediate goods, machines used to make other products, dropped by 8.2% on a monthly basis, while that of investment goods was off by 4.9%.
Yesterday, ministry figures for industrial orders showed they had fallen by 6.9% in December from the previous month, more than twice the forecast level.
For the full year 2008, orders for good from Germany, the world's leading exporter, plunged by 25.1% as the global economic slowdown slammed its main trading partners.
