"This increase is due not least to large orders," said ZVEI Chief Economist Dr. Andreas Gontermann. Domestic orders increased by 6.0%, while foreign orders rose more than three times as much (+20.3%). Orders from the eurozone were 40.0% higher than in the previous year, and customers from third countries increased their orders by 10.5%.

For the first quarter of 2022 as a whole, orders were up 14.6% on the previous year. Here, incoming orders from Germany grew by almost a seventh (+13.3%) and those from abroad by almost a sixth (+15.6%). While customers from the eurozone increased their orders by 24.8% in the first three months of 2022, orders from countries outside the single currency area rose by 10.6%.

In March, the price-adjusted production of electrical and electronic goods was only 1.1% higher than the previous year. "This means that the pace of expansion has slowed noticeably," says Gontermann. "However, there was an increase of twelve percent a year ago, so the bar was also set quite high." In the first quarter of 2022 as a whole, aggregated sector output grew by 2.9%.

Turnover in the German electrical and digital industry amounted to 19.7 billion euros in March 2022, 6.9% higher than in the previous year. Domestic and international sales grew at the same rate, up 7.0% to €8.9 billion and 6.9% to €10.8 billion respectively. Business with partners from the eurozone (+8.4% to €4.1 billion) grew slightly more strongly in March than turnover with third countries (+5.9% to €6.7 billion).

In the first quarter of 2022 as a whole, industry revenue increased by 9.7% year-on-year to €52.5 billion. Sales with foreign customers (+7.9% to €28.1 billion) were almost €4 billion higher than sales with domestic business partners (+12.0% to €24.4 billion).

Sales to the eurozone amounted to 10.6 billion euros between January and March - an increase of 8.4%. Sales with customers from third countries amounted to 17.5 billion euros, 7.6% higher than in the first quarter of 2021.

While capacity utilization in the sector was slightly lower at 87.9% at the start of the second quarter than three months previously (88.5%), the order backlog increased from 4.8 to 5.7 months. "This means we have reached an all-time high here," said Gontermann. "Only eight percent of companies currently have too few orders. In contrast, 90 percent are affected by supply bottlenecks. In addition, almost half of companies are reporting a shortage of skilled workers."

Following the sharp correction in March, the business climate in the German electrical and digital industry fell again in April. Although the current situation was assessed as better than in the previous month, general business expectations fell further.