"Incoming orders were once again 11.5% below the previous year's figure, so a recovery in order activity is still a long way off," says ZVEI Chief Economist Dr. Andreas Gontermann, summarizing the situation. At 14.9%, the drop in domestic orders was higher than that of orders from foreign customers (- 8.7%). In May, 8.1% fewer new orders were received from the eurozone than in the same month last year. Orders from third countries fell by 9.0%.

Decline in incoming orders and production

In the first five months of 2024, incoming orders in the German electrical and digital industry fell by 11.3% compared to the previous year. The decline in domestic orders was particularly sharp at 14.5%, while orders from abroad fell by 8.6%. Orders in the eurozone fell by 7.5%, while orders in countries outside the currency area were 9.2% lower than in the same period of the previous year.

The adjusted production of electrotechnical and electronic goods in Germany recorded a year-on-year decline of 15.7% in May 2024. "At best, a small part of this setback can be explained by fewer working days," says Gontermann. Overall, the industry's production in the first five months of the year was 9.7% below the previous year's level.

Nominal revenue in the German electrical and digital industry amounted to €17.2 billion in May 2024, which corresponds to a year-on-year decline of 12.8%. Domestic sales fell by 15.5% to €8.0 billion, while foreign sales declined by 10.5% to €9.2 billion. Of this, € 3.2 billion was attributable to business with the eurozone, which corresponds to a decline of 13.5%, and € 6.0 billion to trade with third countries, which fell by 8.9%.

In the period from January to May 2024, the industry's total turnover fell by 7.2% to €91.4 billion. Domestic turnover reached 43.8 billion euros, which corresponds to a decline of 7.9%, while foreign turnover fell by 6.6% to 47.6 billion euros. Turnover with partners from the eurozone amounted to 17.3 billion euros (-6.2%) and 30.3 billion euros (-6.9%) with customers from other currency areas.

34,000 employees on short-time work

Production plans remained virtually unchanged in June 2024, while employment plans were slightly more positive than in May. A total of 901,500 employees were working in the German electrical and digital industry, including 34,000 on short-time work.

"The business climate in the German electrical and digital industry remained virtually unchanged in June 2024," said Gontermann. "Both the current situation and general business expectations were assessed only slightly less favorably than in May. Export expectations also hardly changed in June."