In June 2026, order intake in North Rhine-Westphalia’s machinery and plant engineering sector was 4 percent below the previous year’s level: While domestic business increased, orders from abroad declined.
In June 2026, order intake in North Rhine-Westphalia’s machinery and plant engineering sector was 4 percent lower in real terms than the previous year’s figure. While domestic business rose by 17 percent, orders from abroad fell by 13 percent. Orders from the non-eurozone fell by 18 percent, while orders from eurozone countries declined by 1 percent.
In the more meaningful, less volatile three-month period from April to June 2026, total order intake was 7 percent below the level of the same period the previous year. While domestic demand rose slightly by 2 percent, foreign demand fell by 10 percent. The decline was particularly pronounced in the non-eurozone, at minus 12 percent, while orders from the eurozone remained 6 percent below the 2025 level.
A look at the first half of 2026 shows that orders received decreased by 8 percent compared to 2025. Domestic orders fell by 10 percent. The decline in orders from abroad amounted to 8 percent, with orders from eurozone countries down 9 percent and those from the non-eurozone down 7 percent.
The first half of the year was marked by continued weakness in order intake for the machinery and plant engineering sector in North Rhine-Westphalia. At the same time, companies’ sales also declined.
The challenging first-half figures will also have an impact on the full year: Against this backdrop, the VDMA NRW feels compelled to revise downward its revenue forecast for North Rhine-Westphalia’s machinery and plant engineering sector — which had been made under more positive circumstances — and now expects a nominal decline in revenue of 2 percent for 2026 instead of the previously forecast growth of 1 percent. At the same time, the association is making a political appeal to implement the demands of the industry and the VDMA for an upgrade of the business environment and, for example, to act consistently in the interests of companies in the process of reducing bureaucracy that has been launched in North Rhine-Westphalia.