The real order intake in Germany’s manufacturing sector rose by 7.8 percent in December 2025 compared with November 2025, after being seasonally and calendar‑adjusted, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) announced on Thursday based on provisional figures. When large‑order contracts were excluded, the increase was 0.9 percent.
In the less volatile three‑month moving average, order intake for the fourth quarter of 2025 was 9.5 percent higher than in the third quarter. Excluding large orders, the rise over the same period was 2.5 percent. After a revision of the preliminary results, November 2025’s order intake was reported to have risen 5.7 percent over October (the provisional estimate had been 5.6 percent).
The December uptick came largely from sharp gains in the production of metal goods, which was 30.2 percent higher than the previous month on a seasonally plus calendar‑adjusted basis, and in the heavy machinery sector, which grew 11.5 percent. Several firms across both industries had taken on sizeable large‑order contracts. Positive contributions also came from the production of electrical equipment (9.8 percent) and from data‑processing devices, electronic and optical goods (5.7 percent).
In contrast, the automotive industry saw a 6.3 percent decline in order intake. Order intake for other vehicle manufacturing-including aircraft, ships, trains and military vehicles-fell 18.7 percent from the high level of the prior month, although substantial large orders were also reported in that segment.
For investment goods, order intake in December increased 10.5 percent over the prior month. For preparatory goods the rise was 5.7 percent, and for consumer goods it fell 5.3 percent.
Foreign‑origin orders grew 5.6 percent in December 2025. Orders originating from the euro‑zone fell 0.6 percent, while orders from outside the euro‑zone rose 9.7 percent. Domestic orders increased 10.7 percent.
Real output from manufacturing was 1.4 percent lower in December 2025 than the previous month after seasonal and calendar adjustments, the office said. Compared with the same month a year earlier, output was 1.9 percent lower on a calendar‑adjusted basis. After revising the preliminary results, November’s output was 2.9 percent higher than October’s (the provisional figure had been 2.7 percent).
Across the full year 2025, real output from manufacturing fell 1.3 percent on a calendar‑adjusted basis compared with 2024.