The Verband der Deutschen Maschinen und Anlagenbauer (VDMA, or German Engineering Federation) has presented its first estimates of the development of the worldwide machinery market in 2011. Accordingly global machinery sales (without services) rose by a nominal 12 per cent last year to a new record level of around 2.1 trillion euros. China is the largest producer of machinery by a long way, followed by Japan, the USA, Germany and Italy. Since the crisis year of 2009 it has been possible to increase machinery sales worldwide by a nominal 40 per cent.

According to the VDMA’s results China produced plant and machinery worth 563 billion euros in 2011. That is 17 per cent more than in the previous year. Its share of world sales is around 27 per cent, as in 2010. The lower growth rates compared to previous years show that as early as 2011 there was a successive slowdown in growth in the machinery industry in the Chinese economy, according to the Federation.

In 2010 Japan was slightly ahead of the USA in machinery sales. Taken together both countries account for sales volumes of 576 billion euros; just a little more than China can show on its own. With sales of 230 billion euros Germany is the fourth largest production country. Nominal sales growth of 16 per cent means the German machinery industry has developed disproportionately well in worldwide comparison.