Economy Mechanical engineering orders in Germany slump in September
After an extremely weak September, Germany's mechanical engineering companies are heading unabated towards a five percent drop in production for the current year.
03.11.2025, 10:43
03.11.2025, 10:44
SDA
The export-oriented industry continues to suffer from a noticeable slump in demand and underutilization of capacity, according to Johannes Gernandt, Chief Economist of the German Engineering Federation (VDMA), who assessed the order figures up to the end of the third quarter.
According to the association, companies' incoming orders in September were 19 percent lower than in the same month last year, adjusted for price increases (in real terms). This was also due to the fact that a year earlier orders for large systems had provided a boost, which was not repeated.
Nevertheless, the difficult situation for the mechanical and plant engineering industry "will only be resolved when the many crises in global trade, such as the US punitive tariffs, are resolved and reforms are implemented in Germany and Europe that really relieve the burden on companies," says Gernandt.
Negative annual balance so far
In September, 5 percent fewer new orders were received from Germany than a year earlier, while orders from abroad slumped by 24 percent. In the third quarter as a whole, incoming orders were also 6 percent lower than in the same period last year. As a result, the balance for the first nine months of the current year is now also negative at minus 1 percent in real terms.
Downsizing continues
The economic downturn and trade barriers could also cost jobs: In a VDMA survey published at the beginning of October, more than half of the 877 companies surveyed (55%) expressed the expectation that they would be able to keep their core workforce stable over the next six months. However, more than one in four companies (26%) see themselves forced to reduce their workforce.
As at June 30 of this year, a total of around 1.01 million people were employed in companies in the sector with more than 50 employees, as reported by the VDMA in August on the basis of official statistics. Including smaller companies, more than 1.2 million people were employed in mechanical and plant engineering in Germany at the end of 2024, according to the association's latest estimate.
