German engineering orders decline for second year in a row, says VDMA

BERLIN (Reuters) - German plant and equipment makers' orders grew slightly in the final month of last year due to big-ticket contracts from abroad, but 2024 as a whole marked the second straight year of decline as firms wait for a turnaround, the VDMA association said on Wednesday.

Overall orders from January to December 2024 were down 8% compared with the year before in real terms, with domestic orders tumbling 13% and foreign ones down 5%.

"The wait for a turnaround continues. We are lacking momentum in important sales markets, especially a better mood in the domestic market," said VDMA economist Olaf Wortmann.

Wortmann added that a 1% rise in overall orders in December was not evidence of a broad-based positive trend but was rather a fluctuation due to major orders from non-euro zone regions.

Foreign orders jumped 9% in December, driven by orders from outside the currency union up 13%, versus a 19% fall in domestic ones.

In the less-volatile three-month period from October to December, orders were down 5% overall, with a 7% fall in domestic orders and a 4% fall in foreign ones.

With an eye on federal elections set for Feb. 23, Wortmann called on the next German government to quickly take measures to support the interests of the country's export-oriented small and medium-sized businesses.

DECEMBER CHANGE

overall +1% y/y

of which German -19% y/y

foreign +9% y/y

OCT TO DEC -5% y/y

of which German -7% y/y

foreign -4% y/y

(Reporting by Miranda Murray; Editing by Madeline Chambers)