Price-adjusted new orders in the manufacturing sector rose by 3.6 percent in March 2025 compared to February 2025, adjusted for seasonal and calendar effects.

Excluding large orders, incoming orders were 3.2 percent higher than in the previous month, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) announced on Wednesday, citing the provisional nature of the data. In a less volatile three-month comparison, order intake in the first quarter of 2025 was 2.3 percent lower than in the fourth quarter of 2024; excluding major orders, it increased by 0.5 percent. In February 2025, order intake remained unchanged compared to January 2025 after revision of the preliminary results (preliminary result confirmed). According to Destatis, many economic sectors contributed to the increase in new orders in manufacturing in March 2025, especially the manufacture of electrical equipment (seasonally and calendar adjusted +14.5 percent compared to the previous month), mechanical engineering (+5.3 percent), other transport equipment (aircraft, ships, trains, military vehicles; +13.0 percent), as well as the automotive industry (+2.5 percent) and the pharmaceutical industry (+17.3 percent). In March 2025, orders for capital goods rose by 3.7 percent compared to the previous month, according to the Federal Statistical Office.

Incoming orders also increased for intermediate goods (+2.5 percent) and consumer goods (+8.7 percent). According to data from the Federal Office, foreign orders increased by 4.7 percent. Orders from within the eurozone increased by 8.0 percent, while orders from outside the eurozone increased by 2.8 percent. Domestic orders increased by 2.0 percent. According to preliminary data, real sales in the manufacturing sector in March 2025 were 2.2 percent higher than in the previous month, adjusted for seasonal and calendar effects. Compared to March 2024, sales were 0.4 percent lower, adjusted for calendar effects. For February 2025, revised preliminary results showed an increase of 0.3 percent compared to January 2025 (preliminary figure: 0.2 percent).