The mechanical engineering industry in Germany concluded the year 2025 with order books at the previous year's level; overall, there was a real zero growth in orders compared to the previous year. This result was driven by an order increase of 7 percent from Euro partner countries. Orders from the domestic market (down 1 percent) and from non-Euro foreign countries (down 2 percent) were, on the whole, declining in the entire year of 2025.
In the reporting month of December, order intakes fell by a real 5 percent compared to the previous year. The driver here was a decrease of 11 percent from non-Euro foreign countries, partly explained by large orders in the previous month's figures. A decline of 3 percent was recorded from Euro countries, resulting in a total drop of 9 percent in foreign orders. In contrast, domestic orders increased by 7 percent compared to the previous year.
"The signs of a cyclical bottoming out for mechanical and plant engineering in Germany are becoming more pronounced. This is evident in the stagnation of orders year-on-year and particularly in the growing orders in the fourth quarter. For 2026, we therefore continue to forecast a small increase in production of a real 1 percent. Furthermore, it is up to politics to initiate structural reforms to improve the competitiveness of the location, which would enable sustainable and higher growth," says VDMA Chief Economist Dr. Johannes Gernandt. The fourth quarter of 2025 (October to December) brought a real increase of 3 percent to the order books. Domestic orders remained constant compared to the previous year during this period. Orders from abroad increased by 4 percent (Euro countries: down 2 percent, non-Euro countries: up 6 percent).
Overall, the mood in mechanical and plant engineering has recently brightened slightly. According to the VDMA economic survey conducted in January, nearly 30 percent of the 962 companies surveyed assess the current situation as "very good" or "good." In the previous survey from October, this figure was still at 23 percent. Less than a quarter of the companies (24 percent) rated the situation as "poor" or "very poor" (October survey: 33 percent). The outlook has also noticeably improved. Almost one in three companies (30 percent) is optimistic about the next 6 months (October: 21 percent). Only 9 percent expect a deterioration in the situation.
This also affects the outlook: For the current year, around 57 percent of companies expect a nominal increase in sales, nearly 29 percent see stagnation as realistic, and less than 15 percent expect a decline in sales.
"More companies are evaluating the current business situation positively compared to negative assessments. This was last the case in spring 2024. This is a hopeful sign – but nothing more. Uncertainty remains high, and the mood is also tense with regard to the fragile development in key customer sectors and sales regions," summarizes Dr. Gernandt.
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