Cecimo, the European Association of Manufacturing Technologies, warns that Europe’s machine tool industry is facing a severe downturn in the last years. It highlights that, without decisive policy action, Europe risks losing its leadership position in advanced manufacturing and technological innovation.
For many years, the European machine tool sector has been a driver of competitiveness, innovation, productivity and technological progress generating positive spillover effects across the entire manufacturing ecosystem. However, during the last years, a combination of unprecedented crises as the pandemic, economic slowdown, inflationary pressures, geopolitical instability, supply chains disruptions, trade tensions, stronger competition emerging from China and increasing uncertainty levels have negatively affected the European machine tool sector undermining its global position, stability and long-term prospects.
The scenario highlighted by the data
Economic uncertainty and weakening demand have had a significant impact on production and investment. The business sentiment among European machine tool builders has remained negative since Q2 2023, accompanied by a rising level of uncertainty. Machine tool production decreased by 9.2% in 2024. Expectations for 2025 project a further production drop of around 8.5%.
Similar patterns are observable when looking at consumption levels. European machine tool consumption dropped by 17.1% in 2024 and it is anticipated to decline by 5.2% in 2025. Since 2023, the market share of European machine tool builders in global consumption has declined, reaching an estimated level of 20.8% in 2025, compared with 25.2% in 2023.
The negative outlook becomes evident when analysing the annual averages of the domestic and foreign orders indexes for the “Cecimo8” countries (Austria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom). In particular, the yearly averages of these indicators decreased by 18% and 8% in 2023 compared to 2022. Additionally, the index averages decreased further in 2024 by 12% and 16%, confirming the downward trend across all market segments.
The results of the Cecimo Investment & Competitiveness survey
The results of the Cecimo Investment & Competitiveness survey showed how global instability, trade barriers and weaker demand have worsened the competitive position of machine tool builders in non-EU markets. At the same time, higher costs, administrative burdens, and limited access to financing are limiting investment in innovation and modernization, leaving machine tool companies less able to adapt to global competition or accelerate digital transformation.
“Europe’s manufacturing backbone is under pressure – said Filip Geerts, Cecimo Director General –. If we don’t act decisively, we risk losing our leadership in machine tool technologies to global competitors within the next few years”. “The sector’s decline – adds Francois Duval, Cecimo President – represents not only a threat to its own survival but also a risk to Europe’s manufacturing competitiveness and technological sovereignty”.
