The mechanical and plant engineering industry in Germany is expecting a decline in production in 2025, albeit smaller than this year, Kallanish hears from its association, VDMA.
Production in the mechanical and plant engineering sector fell by 6.8% on-year in the first ten months this year, according to provisional figures. “For 2024 as a whole, we continue to expect production to fall by 8% compared to the previous year,” VtDMA president Bertram Kawlath said at the association’s annual press conference in Frankfurt.
In 2025, falling interest rates should not only benefit consumption, but also global willingness to invest and initiate an economic recovery, VDMA says. However, no significant upturn is expected in the global economy, Kallanish understands.
“Key negative factors such as wars and protectionism as well as structural disruptions will remain with us. We must therefore continue to expect a lot of headwinds and therefore confirm our forecast that the machinery and equipment manufacturing sector will see a production decline of 2% in 2025,” said Kawlath.
In order to strengthen Germany and Europe as a business location, VDMA is therefore calling for a significant turnaround in economic policy. In particular, the VDMA president called on the future German government to stop weakening small and medium-sized industrial companies and to give them urgently needed room to conduct business. “Above all, the federal government must reduce bureaucracy and reduce costs,” he demanded.
That would mean relief from reporting obligations, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises, which are disproportionately affected. Examples include the Supply Chain Act and obligation to submit various sustainability reports, VDMA says.
Christian Koehl Germany
