Though output growth was sustained, the recent downturn in new orders deepened amid a steep and accelerated decline in exports.
More positively, data showed a solid increase in manufacturing employment as well as a cooling of input cost inflation to a 16-month low.
The headline IHS Markit/BME Germany Manufacturing PMI – a single-figure snapshot of the performance of the manufacturing economy – slipped to 51.5 in December, down from 51.8 in November and its lowest reading since March 2016.