Preliminary data from the German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) indicate that the adjusted order intake in the manufacturing sector fell by 10.6% in August 2026 when compared to July 2026, after seasonal and calendar adjustments. Removing the impact of large contracts, the order intake was marginally lower than the previous month, registering a 0.1% decrease. Looking at the less volatile comparison across three months (June to August 2026), the order intake increased by 1.3% compared to the preceding three months; however, without consideration of major contracts, the decrease was 2.6%. Furthermore, after a revision of provisional results, the order intake for July 2026 climbed by 3.2% from June 2026 (the initial provisional figure was +2.5%).
The negative trend observed in manufacturing order intake in August 2026 is almost entirely attributable to a sharp decline within the “Other Vehicle Construction” sector (covering aircraft, ships, trains, and military vehicles). In this specific area, order intake dropped by 61.5% compared to July 2026, after having more than doubled in July due to an exceptionally high volume of large contracts in the shipbuilding, rail vehicle, and aerospace industries (the revised increase for July was +129.4% compared to June 2026).
Analyzing the type of goods, order intake fell by 15.3% for capital goods, 2.6% for intermediate goods, and 7.3% for consumer goods in August 2026. Internationally, foreign orders declined by 5.4%; specifically, orders from the Eurozone dropped by 5.4%, while orders outside the Eurozone fell by 5.5%. Domestically, orders saw a much steeper decline of 17.3%.
Regarding financial performance, the real turnover in manufacturing remained unchanged at 0.0% month-over-month in August 2026, according to preliminary figures. When measured against the same period last year (August 2025), the turnover was 0.9% higher after calendar adjustments. For July 2026, revised figures show a drop of 1.4% compared to June 2026, rising from the provisional estimate of -1.5%, according to statisticians.
