After several slow months, the German electrical and electronics industry received 2.7% more orders in December last year than in the previous year, according to the ZVEI - thanks in particular to the eurozone. A different picture for sales: Following the slight increase in November, these fell by 1.8% year-on-year to EUR 16.0 billion in December.

At minus 0.5% to 7.7 billion euros, domestic sales fell less sharply than foreign sales, which fell by 2.9% to 8.3 billion euros. While business with customers from the eurozone fell by 15.8% to 2.8 billion euros, business with third countries increased by 5.3% to 5.5 billion euros.

According to the association, real production in the German electrical industry, adjusted for price effects, remained 3.5% below the previous year's level in December 2016. "This means that industry output grew by 1.0% in 2016 as a whole," said ZVEI Chief Economist Dr. Andreas Gontermann. "For this year, the ZVEI expects price-adjusted production growth of 1.5%."

"In 2016 as a whole, incoming orders were down 1.0% on the previous year," said Dr. Andreas Gontermann, adding: "However, the latter had also benefited greatly from major orders.

© ZVEI

The full year 2016

The ZVEI also reported on 2016 as a whole: cumulative orders from both Germany and abroad were each 1.0% lower last year than in 2015. 1.0% more orders were received from the eurozone in 2016 and 2.2% fewer from third countries. Last year as a whole, industry revenue increased by €400 million to €178.6 billion, although the target of €183 billion was missed. Domestic sales amounted to 87.0 billion euros (+0.3%) and foreign sales to 91.6 billion euros (+0.1%). Business with partners from the eurozone fell by 2.9% to 33.3 billion euros, while business with third countries increased by 1.9% to 58.3 billion euros.

Despite the Brexit vote, Donald Trump's election and the failed constitutional referendum in Italy and the resulting economic uncertainty, the business climate in the German electrical and electronics industry also rose slightly in January 2017. "Although the assessment of the current situation was slightly less favorable than in the previous month, general business expectations rose significantly," said Dr. Gontermann.