According to the ZVEI Business Cycle Report (May 2024 edition), in March 2024 the German electro and digital industry has once again collected significantly less new orders than a year earlier. Indeed, the decline in bookings by 17.8% has been the biggest shortfall in almost four years’ time. Domestic orders were especially hard hit. They failed their respective pre-year value by one-fourth in March (-25.7%). Bookings from foreign business partners fell by 11.1%. Here, new orders from euro zone clients were 10% down, while bookings from third countries came in 11.6% lower than the year before. In the full first quarter of this year, new orders decreased by 13.5% (again year over year). Bookings from domestic and foreign customers sagged by 15.2% and 12.1%, respectively. The value of new orders from the euro area dropped by 10.3% between January and March. Finally, bookings from third countries sank by 13.1% (year-on-year) in that period.
