The coldest winter in decades and large snowfalls halted most outside building work in Germany, but the sharp drop was offset by the fast-increasing energy production, the ministry said.

Production of basic goods surged 3.3 percent, and manufacturing output gained 0.9 percent in January, the data showed.

In year-on-year terms, the industrial production climbed 2.2 percent in January, the first increase since August 2008, from a 5. 7-percent fall in December 2009.

Some economists had expected the industrial output to rise 1 percent to 1.2 percent in January. Although the outcome failed to reach the prediction, many experts still believed that the recovering engine of the Europe's largest economy has started.

Latest date released on Friday showed that German factory orders jumped 4.3 percent in January. Germany's electrical and electronic manufacturers' association ZVEI said the sector's order rose 10 percent in January compared with the same period in 2009.

The Economy Ministry said those increasing factory orders have not been"reflected in the production figures" yet. As construction is likely to rebound in coming months, dynamic economic activities are probably "imminent."

Hit by the international economic crisis, the German economy registered a five percent contraction in 2009, the largest recession since world war II.