Despite many uncertainties on the world market, mechanical engineering companies in Germany significantly increased their exports in 2018, the Mechanical Engineering Industry Association (VDMA) said.

According to the report, last year, a total of 177.8 billion euros was invested in machinery and equipment - an increase of 5.3% on the previous year (169 billion euros). This meant an export ratio of 79.2%, measured against total production.

The race of the two largest export markets for mechanical engineering was narrowly won by the USA in the end. Exports to the USA increased by 7.1% to 19.25 billion euros in 2018. This represented a share of 10.8% of total machine exports. China was just behind with an increase of 9.6% to 19.06 billion euros (share: 10.7%).

Europe remained the largest sales region last year. Deliveries to the EU partner countries increased by 6.6% to 83.91 billion euros, an above-average increase. The EU countries accounted for a total of 47.2% of German machinery exports. The most important partner here is traditionally France (+4.6% to 11.55 billion euros, ranked third).