Berlin - German industrial production fell sharply in May, data released Monday showed, signalling that the upswing in Europe's biggest economy could be coming to an end.

The Ministry of Economics and Technology said output slipped by a price-and-seasonally adjusted 2.4 per cent in May after falling by 0.2 per cent in April. Production dropped by a downwardly revised 0.8 per cent in March.

Adding to evidence that the German economy could be heading for a slowdown as the year unfolds, data released last week showed German factory orders falling for the sixth consequence month in May.

After contracting by 1.7 per cent in April, German industrial orders slipped by a price-and-seasonally adjusted 0.9 per cent in May, the Ministry of Economics and Technology said.

Economists had predicted the data, which is considered to be a key if volatile economic indicator, to clock up a modest 0.6 per cent gain in May.

Slumping production in Germany's key industrial sector and the nation's building industry lead the overall fall in output, Monday's figures showed.

Analysts had expected industrial production to increase by a very modest 0.2 per cent in May.

However, when the two months of April and May are compared to February and March, German output contracted by 1.8 per cent. (dpa)