Germany’s factory orders rose 4.4% month-on-month in September 2026, rebounding from a downwardly revised 10.1% decline in August but coming in slightly below market expectations for a 4.8% increase. This was the strongest monthly gain since March, driven primarily by a 10.5% jump in automotive orders after two months of weakness, which had been partly attributed to production changeovers and temporary factory shutdowns. Orders in mechanical engineering also increased markedly, up 8.3%.
By contrast, demand for aircraft, ships, trains and military vehicles fell 10.4%, following particularly strong orders earlier in the year. Across product categories, orders rose for capital goods (5.3%), intermediate goods (0.5%) and consumer goods (14.4%).
Domestic orders advanced 6.6%, while foreign orders were up 2.8%, supported by higher demand from both the euro area (4.5%) and non-euro area markets (1.6%). Excluding large-scale contracts, overall orders increased 5.1%.
On a less volatile three-month moving basis, factory orders edged up 0.2% in the third quarter compared with the previous quarter, or 0.1% when large orders are excluded.
