REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke
But the year-on-year figure was much better than expected - the best since July 2014. Compared to January last year, production rose 1.2%.
Economists had expected a 0.2% boost month-on-month, translating into a 0.1% rise compared to January last year.
German industrial production narrowly beat expectations in January, rising 0.6%, according to statistics released last week.
A recent run of stronger-than expected economic data has buoyed European stocks, and though it may take some time to feed through, the increasingly weak euro should boost Europe's manufacturers by driving exports.
But a quick look at this chart shows just how little of an industrial recovery there's been so far:
Eurostat