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Domestic and foreign sales of German machinery industry 2008 - 2023

After 2020 foreign and domestic sales of German machinery industry reach new highs since 2008

This report highlights the differences in the course of domestic and foreign sales of the German machinery industry. The analyses of total sales and production as well as foreign sales in export markets are covered by special reports.

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February 19th, 2024 - The differences in the course of domestic and foreign sales will become apparent when both are related to a common starting point. For this purpose we set the pre-crisis year 2008 to 100 for both domestic and foreign sales. 


The diagram opens up three tendencies in the course of domestic and foreign sales.


Foreign sales work and confirm themselves as growth engine. They already exceeded their pre-crisis level in 2010. But its growth already weakens in 2018. The decline by 2020 was 0,8 index points higher than the decline in total sales that declined by 15.2 to 97,9 index points and therefore below the level of 2008.


Domestic sales, on the other hand, remain below pre-crisis levels. After rising from the crisis low in 2010, domestic sales are falling again and can only reach their 2010 level again in 2015. Only in 2017 and 2018 slight growth can be seen. By 2020, domestic sales decline by 1.0 index point less than total sales.


In 2023 foreign and domestic sales of the German machinery industry reach new highs since 2008. Domestic sales exceed their pre-crisis level of 2008 for the first time.

Domestic and foreign sales of German machinery industry 2008 - 2023.

Foreign sales have been growing significantly more strongly than domestic sales. So their line spreads itself somewhat from that of the domestic sales.


However, the focus is on the parallelism in the course of both sales. So there is neither in inland nor on important export markets an exceptional business cycle that would provide an exceptional development for the sales of the German machinery industry.


In fact, it is the worldwide economic situation, in particular that of the wolrdwide industrial production, that sets its unified stamp on domestic and foreign sales. The report about trends in the worldwide industrial production analyses this stamp in more detail.


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