Saxon industry shrank in the first six months of this year. Incoming orders and sales were down, according to the State Statistical Office in Kamenz. "Turnover in domestic business fell by almost 11 percent to 21.7 billion euros in the first half of 2024 compared to 2023, which is above average." The drop in foreign sales (15.9 billion euros) was 6 percent.
According to the statistics, total sales of around 37.6 billion euros were 9 percent lower than in the first half of 2023. This means that sales developed worse than in the rest of the country: Nationwide, the decline amounted to 5 percent. The price-adjusted gross domestic product in Saxony fell by 0.7 percent in the same period, and by 0.2 percent in Germany.
The generally weak industrial economy is also reflected in foreign trade, it was reported. Saxony's exports fell by five percent to a total of 25.7 billion euros (nationwide: minus 2 percent). Saxony's imports fell by 6 percent to a total of 17.7 billion euros, as in Germany as a whole.
The statistics cover companies with 50 or more employees in the manufacturing industry as well as in mining and quarrying. This includes almost 1,300 companies with a total of around 236,000 employees.
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