Berlin  - German industrial production fell by an unexpectedly large 1.8 per cent in July, the Ministry of Economics and Technology said Friday, predicting the weak trend could continue in the months ahead.

Economists had predicted a fall of around 0.5 per cent.

The ministry also revised downwards its figure for June, saying production had risen 0.1 per cent on a price-and-seasonally adjusted basis, not 0.2 per cent as previously reported.

"Given the negative development in orders in industry and weakening business sentiment in the production sector over past months, industrial production could also show weak trends in the months ahead," the ministry said.

Both industrial production and construction in Europe's largest economy declined by as much as 2.0 per cent in July, the ministry said.

The largest fall - 3.7 per cent - was posted by producers of investment goods, while producers of consumer goods saw a fall-off of 1.7 per cent. (dpa)