German manufacturing orders jump 5% in March, beating expectations

Germany’s real new manufacturing orders rose sharply in March, far exceeding market expectations and signaling a stronger-than-anticipated recovery in industrial demand, official data showed Thursday.

New orders increased 5% month-on-month in March after seasonal and calendar adjustments, according to provisional figures from Destatis, Germany’s Federal Statistical Office.

The figure came in well above market expectations for a 1% monthly increase.

Excluding large-scale contracts, new orders climbed 5.1% from the previous month, reaching their highest level since February 2023.

February’s monthly increase was revised upward to 1.4% from the previously reported 0.9%.

On an annual basis, new orders rose 6.3% in March compared with the same month last year. February’s annual growth figure was revised to 3.5%.

Almost all industrial branches contributed to the March increase, Destatis said.

Orders for electrical equipment surged 21.5% month-on-month, while machinery and equipment orders rose 6.9%. Orders for computer, electronic and optical products increased 14.4%.

By category, capital goods orders rose 2.1%, intermediate goods orders increased 9.2%, and consumer goods orders climbed 7.3% in March.

Foreign demand also strengthened, with overseas orders rising 5.6% from the previous month. Orders from the euro area jumped 10.1%, while orders from outside the euro area increased 2.7%.

Domestic orders rose 4% month-on-month.

However, the less volatile three-month comparison showed total new orders were 4.1% lower in the first quarter of 2026 than in the fourth quarter of 2025, mainly due to a high volume of large-scale contracts at the end of last year.

Excluding large-scale contracts, new orders rose 1.6% in the three-month comparison.