German industrial production fell slightly in February while exports notched a small rise, official data showed Monday, as markets in Frankfurt plunged following US President Donald Trump's sweeping new tariffs.
Production fell by 1.3 percent on the previous month, federal statistics agency Destatis said, more than a 0.9 percent drop expected by analysts polled by financial data firm FactSet.
Exports rose 1.8 percent over the same period, more than a 1.5 percent increase predicted by FactSet.
Exports to the United States, the largest trading partner, rose 8.5 percent compared to January, after a 4.2 percent decline the previous month.
The data were indicative of Germany's continued industrial slump even before Trump last week announced sweeping tariffs, including a 20 percent tariff on European Union exports, ING bank analyst Carsten Brzeski said.
"In normal times, today's data would hardly have been encouraging," he said. "But these are no normal times. The latest tariff announcements from the US government have clearly dented any fresh optimism."
Germany's blue-chip DAX index of the largest companies fell over 10 percent on Monday morning before recovering slightly to be 6.1 percent down at 0815 GMT.
The United States has taken about a tenth of its exports, a share worth some 161.4 billion euros ($177 billion) per year.
"It is clear that an export-oriented economy like Germany's will suffer from a trade war," Brzenski said. "The nearer term outlook for the German economy has worsened."
Germany registered its second straight year in recession in 2024, with GDP contracting by 0.2 percent.
Before the new US tariffs, many economists had hoped proposals by the incoming government to spend hundred of billions of euros on defence and infrastructure would help revive the country's ailing economy.