The headline IHS Markit/BME Germany Manufacturing PMI - a single-figure snapshot of the performance of the manufacturing economy - fell to 55.9 in June from 56.9 in May. The index has now declined in each of the past six months from a survey-record high last December, with the latest reading the lowest seen for one-and-a-half years.

Phil Smith, Principal Economist at IHS Markit said: "The rate of growth of Germany's manufacturing sector has consistently slowed throughout the first half of 2018, with June's final headline PMI reading the lowest seen for one-and-a-half years".