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Mechanical engineering NRW: Weak start to the year

Order intake in the mechanical and plant engineering sector in North Rhine-Westphalia in January 2023 fell 22 percent short of the previous year’s result. Demand from the domestic market was down 11 percent, and incoming orders from abroad were down 26 percent. The euro area contributed to this result with a minus of 8 percent and the non-euro area with a minus of 33 percent.

In the more meaningful three-month period November 2022 to January 2023, incoming orders decreased by 21 percent year-on-year. Orders from the domestic market fell by 15 percent and from abroad by 24 percent. Demand from the European region fell 18 percent short of its prior-year level, and orders from non-European countries were down 27 percent.

The negative figures show that we continue to suffer from the international uncertainties and challenges, which have a negative impact on the willingness to invest. However, the clearly negative order intake is put into perspective by comparison with the high prior-year figures.