The German machinery manufacturing industry encountered a decline in orders in the last month of 2025.
The German Machinery and Equipment Manufacturing Association (VDMA) announced on Wednesday that German machinery manufacturing orders fell by 5% year-on-year in December, mainly due to weak demand from non-euro zone countries, which also marked a sluggish end to the full-year decline.
Judging from specific order data, although domestic orders increased by 7% year-on-year in December, it shows that the German domestic market still has certain demand and vitality for machinery manufacturing products.
However, there was a significant decline in foreign orders, down 9% year-on-year.
Among them, orders within the euro area decreased by 3%, and orders outside the euro area dropped significantly by 11%.
This shows that the German machinery manufacturing industry is facing greater challenges in the international market, especially the sluggish demand in non-Euro area countries that has a significant impact on it.
VDMA also pointed out that the total order volume of the industry in 2025 was the same as the previous year.
This means that in the past year, the German machinery manufacturing industry as a whole was in a relatively stable state but lacked growth momentum.
Previously, the agency had predicted that the industry’s actual output value would fall by 5% in 2025 due to trade conflicts and global uncertainty.
Although the final total order volume did not decline, judging from the decline in orders in December, the development situation of the industry is still not optimistic.
Trade conflicts have always been one of the important factors affecting the German machinery manufacturing industry.
Global trade frictions have led to market instability, and companies have become more cautious when investing and purchasing, which directly affects the export of German machinery products.
In addition, the uncertainty of global economic growth has also caused companies in many countries to reduce their demand for machinery and equipment, especially in some emerging economies. Due to the slowdown in economic growth, their ability to purchase high-end machinery and equipment has declined.
Faced with such a dilemma, German machinery manufacturing companies need to take a series of measures to deal with it.
On the one hand, companies can increase their efforts to develop the domestic market, further tap the potential of the domestic market, and use the trend of domestic order growth to stabilize business.
On the other hand, companies also need to actively expand international markets, especially strengthen cooperation with emerging economies, and attract customers by providing more competitive products and services.
At the same time, companies should also strengthen technological innovation and improve product quality and performance to enhance their competitiveness in the international market.
The development of the German machinery manufacturing industry in 2025 will face many challenges, and the decline in orders in December has sounded the alarm for the industry.
In the future, German machinery manufacturing companies need to actively respond and take effective measures to promote business development in order to cope with the increasingly complex market environment.
