The mechanical engineering industries recorded sales of 134.5 billion euros in 2019, up +1.7 % on the previous year (versus +2.8 % in 2018). Current events, heavily impacted by the health crisis, point to a sharp drop in earnings in 2020.
Variable trends by sector
Of the four business sectors that structure the mechanical engineering industries, three saw their 2019 sales increase: production and mechanical equipment (+3.2 %), integrated components and sub-assemblies (+2.4 %) and consumer products (+1.1 %). Only the mechanical parts activity of the subcontracting sector recorded a decline of -2.1 %.
Dynamic exports to third countries
With export sales of 52.5 billion euros, French mechanical engineering retains its 6th place worldwide behind China, the United States, Japan, Germany and Italy. The acceleration in exports by +2.3 % in 2019 is mainly due to higher sales to third countries (+4 %). Conversely, there was a slowdown towards the German market (-1 % compared with 2018), which nevertheless remains the leading customer sector for French mechanical engineering.
Slight increase in headcount
France's leading industrial employer (around 20 %), the mechanical engineering industries recorded an increase in its workforce for the second year running (+0.2 % compared with 2018, or 615,450 employees).
2020 outlook: multiple uncertainties
"As early as the second half of 2019, signs of deceleration were recorded, linked in particular to the decline in the German market. Uncertainties for 2020 were already significant before the health crisis we're experiencing: the poor German economic climate, falling foreign demand, US trade policy and the consequences for the main partner countries, and the effects of Brexit. As a result, forecasts at the beginning of March predicted a stabilization of activity in the mechanical engineering industries for 2020, says the FIM. The Covid-19 crisis is causing a cascading crisis in the countries affected. It will therefore last over time, and its scale cannot yet be assessed. How long it lasts, and whether the industry can get back to work as quickly as possible, are fundamental economic factors in limiting the consequences.