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Germany year-end review 2023: Deterioration in exports

In July, the ifo Export Expectations about German export industry slipped to (-) *.* points, down from (-) *.* in June, due to weakening of demand from abroad as a result of restrictive monetary policy in the US and Europe. The situation continued in succeeding months. By September, ifo Export Expectations dropped further to (-) **.* points from (-) *.* points in August, signalling significant deterioration in sentiments of German export industry. Only manufacturing of leather goods saw rise in exports scoring ifo score of **.* points. On the other hand, the manufacturing of apparel and textiles experienced steep declines and delivered a fall to (-) **.* and (-) **.* points, respectively. Most of other sectors continued to anticipate a decrease in international business with exports to all key regions declining.

Despite ** per cent decrease in orders, the sales of textile care, fabric and leather technologies sectors, for the period from January to August, grew ** per cent in real terms as compared to the same period last year. According to German Machinery Association VDMA, this growth included a ** per cent y-o-y increase in sales from Germany and a * per cent rise in sales from abroad. The ** per cent decrease in orders comprised * per cent decrease in domestic orders and ** per cent decrease in foreign orders. At the same time, associated shoe and leather technology manufacturers registered a ** per cent growth in exports, reaching €** million from January to July **** for which the main destination markets were the US, Mexico and France.