According to preliminary results released by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), Germany’s real industrial order book for March 2026 saw an increase of 1.6 percent compared to February 2026, when measured on a seasonally and calendar-adjusted basis. Furthermore, considering the previous year’s period, the order book grew by 8.4 percent year-on-year.
This positive development extended across all economic sectors. The primary contributors to the overall growth were notable increases in other vehicle manufacturing (covering aircraft, ships, trains, and military vehicles, rising +1.5 percent over the previous month) and in the production of data processing equipment, electronic, and optical products, which grew by 3.8 percent.
When examining the sources of the orders, domestic demand rose by 1.4 percent between February and March 2026, while orders from foreign markets increased by 1.7 percent.
Analyzing the breakdown by goods type reveals continued strength. The order book for capital goods manufacturers rose by 1.3 percent over the previous month. Meanwhile, the intermediate goods sector saw a solid increase of 2.0 percent, and consumer goods manufactured posted the largest growth at 5.0 percent.
In terms of the backlog duration, the average order book length rose to 8.8 months in March 2026 (up from 8.6 months in February). Sector-specific duration also improved: capital goods manufacturers now have an estimated backlog of 12.2 months (up from 12.0 months), intermediate goods manufacturers see a balance of 4.6 months (up from 4.5 months), and consumer goods manufacturers now report a backlog of 4.0 months (up from 3.8 months).
