ZVEI lifts 2007 forecast for the german electronic industry

In March 2007 the estimate of growth was still between 5 % and 6 %. Also the close of the previous year was retroactively revised upwards by the association of the second-largest industrial association. Provisional data in the early months of 2006 foresaw a growth of 7.5%. In fact the total turnover stood at 180 bn Euro. “It is highly probable that the electronic industry will grow by 5% again in 2008 and invoice more than 200 bn Euro," says Gotthard Graß, Managing Director of the ZVEI. Despite restructuring and relocating to more advantageous production sites, the industry in Germany had increased the number of its employees by 4 000 to 806 500 by the end of the year. The ZVEI expects that by the end of this year the number of employees in the industry will be 815 000. In the first four months of this year, the turnover of the German electrical-technology and electronic industries increased by almost 6% to close on 60 bn Euro. The growth of orders received in total was 6% and, without the information and communication technologies, even 11%. According to the ZVEI, strong growth is still seen in the deliveries to Russia, India and China. Also according to ZVEI is a double-digit growth in the first quarter of 2007 in the segments of electrical energy transmission and distribution as well as in automation technology. The local growth in both areas was 10%. The orders received from foreign countries in the energy branch were 30%, in automation technology it was 20%.