According to the annual press conference of the German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers’ Association (ZVEI), after three years of stagnation and decline, Germany’s electrical and digital industry is expected to resume growth for the first time in 2026, with actual output expected to increase by 2% year-on-year, ending the continuous downturn of the industry and the overall industry has stabilized. This recovery is not accidental, but the result of continuous strategic adjustment, increased investment in technological R&D, and optimized product structure by industry enterprises. Looking back at the past three years, affected by multiple factors such as global supply chain disruptions, soaring energy prices, and increased inflationary pressure, Germany’s electrical and digital industry has encountered severe challenges. In 2023 and 2024, the actual output of the industry decreased by 3.2% and 1.8% year-on-year respectively. Many enterprises faced problems such as reduced orders, rising costs, and idle production capacity, and some small and medium-sized enterprises even fell into operational difficulties. To cope with the crisis, the German government has introduced a number of supportive policies, including providing R&D subsidies, reducing corporate taxes, and optimizing energy supply, to help industry enterprises tide over the difficulties and lay a policy foundation for the recovery in 2026.
Detailed data shows that Germany’s electrical and digital industry showed signs of recovery in 2025, with the nominal income of goods and services taking the lead in turning positive. The annual income is expected to reach 226 billion euros, an increase of 2.7% compared with 220 billion euros in 2024. Among them, the income of digital products and services grew particularly significantly, with a year-on-year increase of 5.3%, becoming the core driving force for the growth of industry income. The employment situation remained relatively stable. As of the end of November 2025, the number of employees in the industry was slightly more than 877,000, a decrease of 1.7% compared with the previous year, but the decline was far lower than the market expectation of 3.5%. This is due to enterprises effectively stabilizing employment positions by optimizing personnel structure and expanding emerging markets. At the same time, the total number of new orders in the industry increased by 5% in 2025, of which orders from the industrial sector increased by 7.2%, especially orders in segments such as automotive electronics and industrial automation increased significantly, providing solid order support for the recovery in 2026. In addition, the profitability of industry enterprises has gradually improved. In 2025, the average profit margin of the industry reached 4.8%, an increase of 0.6 percentage points compared with 2024, and corporate confidence in operation continued to recover.
In terms of exports, German electrical products performed well with their excellent quality and technological advantages. From January to November 2025, exports (including re-exports) increased by 4.6% year-on-year, reaching 236.2 billion euros, and the export volume has maintained positive growth for 8 consecutive months. Among them, the export growth to the EU single market and the United Kingdom became the core support, with a year-on-year increase of 6.8%, accounting for 62% of the total export volume, effectively offsetting the decline in exports to the United States and China. Affected by changes in the global trade environment, German electrical product exports to the United States and China decreased by 2.1% and 1.5% year-on-year respectively in 2025. From the perspective of export product structure, high-value-added products such as high-end electrical equipment, industrial automation systems, and intelligent sensors grew rapidly, with a year-on-year increase of 8.3%, demonstrating the technological strength of Germany’s electrical and digital industry. At present, the industry capacity utilization rate is 78%, 4 percentage points higher than a year ago, but there is still a gap from the long-term average level of 83%, which also means that the industry still has great growth potential. With the continuous increase in orders, the capacity utilization rate is expected to further improve.
Jörg Koch, Chairman of ZVEI, emphasized at the press conference that industrial artificial intelligence is the core growth opportunity for Germany’s electrical and digital industry to achieve sustained recovery and consolidate global competitiveness, and also the core direction of the industry’s future development. German enterprises have a first-mover advantage in the field of industrial AI applications, especially in segments such as industrial automation, intelligent manufacturing, and precision computing, with profound technological accumulation. Their industrial computing and optimization models can be trained using accurate industrial data, rather than relying on large language models dominated by US and Chinese enterprises. This AI application based on industrial scenarios is more targeted and practical, which can effectively improve production efficiency, reduce production costs, and optimize product quality. According to the forecast of the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany, by 2035, Germany is expected to create 144 billion euros of added value in the field of industrial AI, drive the overall output value of the industry to grow by more than 30%, and create a large number of high-quality jobs. In addition, the association calls on the EU to revise the “AI Act” and exclude industrial AI applications from strict regulation to relax restrictions on industrial innovation, avoid excessive regulation restricting enterprises’ technological R&D and market expansion, and help Germany’s industrial AI industry maintain its global leading position.
Post time: Apr-18-2026
