ZVEI – German electrical and digital industry: Orders pick up slightly again in February

The German electrical and digital industry closed February 2026 with a 1.8 percent increase in orders compared to the previous year. 

Nominal sales in the sector also continued their positive trend, rising by 1.3 percent compared to the same month last year. However, adjusted for price effects, production of electrical and electronic goods in Germany fell by 2.7 percent compared to February 2025. The business climate remains cautiously optimistic. The effects of the Iran-Iraq War, which began in March, are not yet reflected in the current figures. 

“Although order intake continued to rise in February 2026, the recorded increase of just under two percent was rather moderate this time,” summarizes ZVEI Chief Economist Dr. Andreas Gontermann. 

Domestic customers increased their orders by 3.0 percent in February. Orders from abroad rose by 0.9 percent. Orders from the Eurozone on the one hand and from non-EU countries on the other once again developed in opposite directions. The former rose by a double-digit percentage of 16.3 percent, whereas the latter fell by 6.9 percent.

In the first two months of this year combined, orders exceeded the corresponding figure for the previous year by 2.3 percent. Domestic orders rose by 2.8 percent and foreign orders by 1.8 percent. New orders from the Eurozone increased by 13.6 percent from January to February. In contrast, orders from foreign business partners outside the eurozone decreased by 4.1 percent.

Adjusted for price effects, the production of electrical and electronic goods in Germany was also lower in February 2026, by 2.7 percent, than a year earlier. 

“As in January, this was also due to a missing working day,” commented Gontermann.

In the first two months of this year, aggregate industry output fell short of its corresponding level from the previous year by 3.2 percent.

While production plans within the industry showed little change in March compared to February, employment plans continued to decline. The balance of companies planning to increase or decrease their output over the next three months stood at plus ten (February: +11). Hiring intentions fell from minus six to minus nine.

The number of employees in the German electrical and digital industries stood at 871,600 at the end of January, 1.3 percent lower than a year earlier. 13,400 employees are on short-time work.

The nominal revenue of domestic electrical and digital companies reached €17.8 billion in February 2026. This represents an increase of 1.3 percent compared to the same month of the previous year. While revenue from domestic customers rose by 5.8 percent in February, business with foreign partners declined by 2.4 percent. This included a 1.2 percent increase with the Eurozone and a 4.5 percent decrease with non-EU countries.

In the cumulative period from January to February of this year, aggregated industry revenues totaled €34.8 billion. This was only slightly higher than in the previous year (+0.4%). Domestic sales increased by 4.2 percent to €16.8 billion, while total foreign sales fell by 2.7 percent to €18.0 billion (Eurozone: -0.7% to €6.7 billion, non-EU countries: -3.9% to €11.4 billion).

“Despite the Iran war, the business climate in the German electrical and digital industries rose slightly in March. This was mainly due to a better assessment of the current situation than in February. General business expectations, on the other hand, fell slightly,” Gontermann analyzes.

24 percent of domestic electrical engineering companies described their economic situation as good in March. 54 percent considered it stable, and 22 percent poor. 19 percent of companies in the sector are optimistic about the next six months. 67 percent expect business to remain the same, while 14 percent anticipate a decline. 

Finally, even the more specific export expectations declined only slightly in March. The balance of electrical engineering companies planning for more or fewer deliveries abroad in the next three months fell by two points compared to February, to plus 12.