Mechanical engineering in Germany – statistics and facts

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Published on: November 9, 2020 / update from: November 9, 2020 - Author: Konrad Wolfenstein

Mechanical engineering is changing. Digital transformation, IOT, Industry 4.0 and AI towards smart factories are changing our image of gear-driven and oil-smeared mechanical engineering.

Mechanical engineering in Germany – Image: Ase|Shutterstock.com

With a leading global market position, mechanical engineering is one of the largest industries in Germany. The Association of German Mechanical and Plant Engineering (VDMA), based in Frankfurt am Main, is the most important trade association for mechanical engineering.

Classification of German mechanical engineering
Germany is one of the most important mechanical engineering countries on the international market. Only China and the USA recently generated higher sales in the industry. After a decline during the financial crisis of 2008/2009, sales in German mechanical engineering have steadily increased again - most recently around 229 billion euros were generated. Within mechanical engineering, the machine tools, drive technology and conveyor sectors are the most important in terms of annual sales.

With regard to developments in international trade, the mechanical engineering industry is strongly export-oriented. The export quota in Germany has ranged between 74 and 80 percent in recent years. The most important countries for German machine exports include the USA, China and France.

Companies and investments in the sector
German mechanical engineering has almost 6,700 companies. In total, over a million people work in German mechanical engineering. Most of them worked in the areas of machine tools, drive technology and conveyors. The largest German mechanical engineering companies recently included Siemens, KION, Bosch and thyssenkrupp.

Investments in mechanical engineering in Germany have increased significantly in recent years. Around 8.3 billion euros were invested in the industry in 2019. A large part of the investments goes into research and development every year, including for the further development of innovative mechanical engineering solutions.