Germany’s real order intake in the manufacturing sector rose by 7.8 % in December 2025 compared with November 2025 when both seasonal and calendar‑year adjustments are taken into account. If large orders are excluded, the increase was 0.9 %, according to preliminary data released by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on Thursday.
Looking at a less volatile three‑month period, the fourth quarter of 2025 was 9.5 % higher than the third quarter. Without large orders, the same period saw a 2.5 % rise. Revised figures for November showed a 5.7 % increase over October (the preliminary estimate had been 5.6 %).
The strong December performance is largely attributable to sharp gains in two key sub‑sectors. Metal product manufacturing climbed 30.2 % month‑on‑month, while machinery production grew 11.5 %. A number of large orders were reported in these two areas. In addition, electrical equipment production was up 9.8 % and the manufacturing of data‑processing, electronic, and optical products rose 5.7 %, all contributing positively to the overall result.
The automotive industry saw a contraction, with order intake falling 6.3 %. Other vehicle manufacturing-planes, ships, trains, and military vehicles-experienced a steep decline of 18.7 % compared with the high level of the preceding month, although many sizable orders were still received in that segment.
For investment goods, order intake increased 10.5 % in December. Intermediate goods rose 5.7 %, while consumer goods fell 5.3 %.
On the international front, foreign orders edged up 5.6 %. Within the Eurozone, orders slipped 0.6 %, whereas orders from outside the Eurozone grew by 9.7 %. Domestic orders climbed 10.7 %.
Real output in manufacturing, seasonally and calendar‑year adjusted, was 1.4 % lower in December 2025 than in November. Calender year‑adjusted output was 1.9 % lower than a year earlier. For November, revised data now show a 2.9 % rise over October (the preliminary figure was 2.7 %).
Overall, real output in Germany’s manufacturing sector for the full year 2025 was 1.3 % below the level of the previous year after calendar‑year adjustments.
