VDMA Chief Economist Dr. Ralph Wiechers: "The pleasing growth in exports is partly driven by inflation and partly due to the fact that supply chains have eased in many areas. As a result, machine and plant manufacturers are finally able to supply many of their customers and are reducing their high order backlogs."

© VDMA

Germany's export-oriented machinery and plant manufacturers achieved a good result for their exports in the first quarter. According to preliminary results from the Federal Statistical Office, machinery exports in the first quarter rose by a nominal 13.8% year-on-year to 51.3 billion euros. Adjusted for prices, machinery exports in the first three months of the current year recorded an increase of 4.4 percent.

USA continues to outpace China

Machine deliveries to the USA, the most important export market, continued to record high nominal growth of 26.5% compared to the previous year. The export value of machinery and equipment "Made in Germany" to the USA amounted to around EUR 6.9 billion in the first quarter. In contrast, German machinery exports to China only increased by a nominal 2.9% to a total of EUR 4.6 billion. "The export business with China has not yet been able to gain significant momentum as hoped following the discontinuation of the coronavirus measures at the end of last year," adds Wiechers.

Double-digit increase in exports to EU countries

Machinery exports to Germany's EU partner countries saw double-digit nominal growth of 10.4%. They thus amounted to a value of more than 22.4 billion euros in the first quarter. Machinery exports to the five most important customer countries within the EU-27 developed as follows: France: up 18.2 percent, Italy: up 10.6 percent, the Netherlands: up 10.3 percent, Austria: up 1.6 percent and Poland: up 11.6 percent. Machinery exports from Germany to other European countries such as the UK (up 14.8%) and Switzerland (up 19.2%) also grew strongly.

Machinery exports to Russia continue to fall sharply

Machinery exports to Russia already fell significantly last year by a nominal 49.6% as a result of the war in Ukraine. This trend has continued: In the first quarter of this year, machinery exports were down 48.9% in nominal terms on the same quarter of the previous year. This means that Russia's share of total German machinery exports is now less than 1 percent. Russia has slipped to 25th place in the export rankings. Before the annexation of Crimea in 2014, the country was still in 4th place. In contrast, German machinery exports to India continue to develop very positively. In the first quarter, nominal export growth to India amounted to 10% compared to the previous year.