Shaped catalyst bodies comprising a multielement oxide I having the general stoichiometry I [Bi1WbOx]a[Mo12Z1cZ2dFeeZ3fZ4gZ5hOy]1 (I), where Z1=Ni or Co, Z2=alkali metal or alkaline earth metal, Z3=zinc, phosphorus, arsenic, boron, antimony, tin, cerium, vanadium, chromium or bismuth, Z4=silicon, aluminum, titanium, tungsten or zirconiurn, Z5=copper, silver, gold, yttrium, lanthanum and lanthanides, a=0.1 to 3, b=0.1 to 10, c=1 to 10, d=0.01 to 2, e=0.01 to 5, f=0 to 5, g=0 to 10, h=0 to 1 and x, y=numbers determined by the valence and abundance of the elements other than oxygen in I, as active composition are produced by preforming a mixed oxide Bi1WbOx by coprecipitation from an aqueous environment at a pH in the range from 1.5 to 3 and isolation of the precipitate by means of a mechanical separation process and mixing the preformed mixed oxide Bi1WbOx with a precursor having the stoichiometry [Mo12Z1cZ2dFeeZ3fZ4gZ5hOy], shaping the mixture to form shaped bodies and thermally treating and calcining the shaped bodies at elevated temperature to give the shaped catalyst bodies. The process leads to homogeneous precipitation products having a stoichiometric composition. It is an alternative to the energy-intensive production by spray drying.