News Release Embargoed until 0930 CEST (0730 UTC) 23 April 2026 ® S&P Global Flash Germany PMI German private sector slips into contraction in April as inflationary pressures continue to build April 2026 S&P Global Germany Composite PMI Output Gross domestic product Flash Germany PMI Composite Output Index: 48.3 Index, sa, >50 = growth m/m % qr/qr 65 (Mar: 51.9). 16-month low. 2 60 Flash Germany Services PMI Business Activity 55 1 Index: 46.9 (Mar: 50.9). 41-month low. 50 0 Flash Germany Manufacturing Output Index: 51.7 45 -1 (Mar: 54.0). 3-month low. 40 -2 Flash Germany Manufacturing PMI: 51.2 35 (Mar: 52.2). 2-month low. 30 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 -3 Data were collected 9-21 April 2026. Sources: S&P Global PMI, Destatis via S&P Global Market Intelligence. © 2026 S&P Global Business activity fell across the German private sector economy for the first time in almost a year in April, according ® Comment to the latest ‘flash’ S&P Global PMI survey, reflecting the effects of the war in the Middle East. Weaker demand Phil Smith, Economics Associate Director at S&P Global led to the steepest drop in new business since December Market Intelligence: 2024, while intensifying cost pressures resulted in sharper "The recovery in the German economy has been increases in both goods and services prices, with output stopped in its tracks by the war in the Middle East. A charge inflation jumping to its highest in over three years. ten-month sequence of growth came to an end in April Notably, business expectations turned negative as as business activity contracted against a backdrop of confidence suffered another marked setback. Employment heightened uncertainty and sharply rising prices. meanwhile fell at a rate that was little-changed from the "The service sector has seen the greatest immediate month before, with cutbacks being made in line with reduced impact, recording its steepest drop in activity in nearly pressure on business capacity. three-and-a-half years at the start of the second The S&P Global Flash Germany Composite PMI Output quarter. The manufacturing sector saw output and new Index dropped from 51.9 in March to 48.3 in April, thereby orders edge higher, although there are warning signs registering in sub-50 contraction territory for the first that it too could soon slip back into contraction, with time since May last year. Although indicative of only a growth of both production and sales slowing sharply modest rate of decline, it was the lowest reading recorded and manufacturers now reporting a pessimistic outlook since December 2024. The downturn was led by a marked for the year ahead. reduction in service sector business activity, which "The business mood has darkened considerably since registered its worst slump in almost three-and-a-half years the outbreak of the war. There's seemingly been little (index at 46.9). Manufacturing output growth meanwhile spillover to the labour market as yet, with jobs being eased sharply from March's 49-month high to its slowest cut at only a slightly faster rate than the trend in the since January (index at 51.7). months before the outbreak of the war. That's likely to It was a similar picture for new business, with a notable change, however, if activity remains suppressed and drop in intakes of new work in the service sector more energy prices remain elevated. than offsetting a further – albeit much slower – increase "Faced with rapidly increasing costs, firms raised in manufacturing new orders. Reports from surveyed firms average prices charged for goods and services at the indicated that uncertainty associated with the geopolitical quickest rate in over three years in April, in a sign of backdrop was causing reluctance among customers and widening inflationary pressures." generally weighing on demand. The latest data meanwhile showed a sustained increase © 2026 S&P Global ® S&P Global Flash Germany PMI in cost pressures facing businesses due to the war in the Germany Services PMI Business Activity Middle East, with surveyed firms widely commenting on Germany Manufacturing PMI Output Index, sa, >50 = growth m/m increases in energy, fuel and transport costs. The overall rate 70 of input price inflation reached its highest since November 2022. Manufacturers, who also frequently reported higher 65 prices paid for materials such as metals and plastics, faced 60 particularly elevated cost pressures, the strongest in the 55 sector for over three-and-a-half years, although the rate of increase in service providers' input costs also ticked up to 50 the fastest since March 2023. 45 Businesses were more aggressive with their price setting in 40 April as they looked to pass on some of the burden of higher costs to customers. The rates of inflation in services and 35 manufacturing output charges were the highest for 35 and 21 22 23 24 25 26 39 months, respectively. Source: S&P Global PMI. ©2026 S&P Global. Elsewhere, April's flash data showed a further decrease in employment across the German private sector, taking the S&P Global Germany Manufacturing PMI Index, sa, >50 = improvement m/m current sequence of decline to almost two years. The pace of 70 job shedding was broadly in line with the average recorded in 65 the year-to-date. Manufacturers once again reported a more marked reduction in staffing numbers than their services 60 counterparts, although the rates of decline in the two 55 sectors converged slightly. 50 The latest round of job cuts coincided with a broad-based 45 reduction in backlogs of work across the private sector. 40 Outstanding business fell to the greatest extent for eight 35 months in April, with an accelerated decline in the service sector being compounded by a renewed decrease across 30 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 manufacturing. Source: S&P Global PMI. ©2026 S&P Global. Business expectations towards activity in the year ahead fell to their lowest since September 2024 at the start of the second quarter. Furthermore, it was only the second Services PMI Input Prices Services PMI Prices Charged time in over two-and-a-half years that sentiment had Manufacturing PMI Input Prices turned negative. Confidence fell particularly sharply in the Manufacturing PMI Output Prices manufacturing sector, where firms voiced concerns over Index, sa, >50 = inflation m/m heightened levels of uncertainty, price increases and supply 100 issues. 90 Goods producers reported an eighth successive monthly 80 increase in average lead times on purchases in April, which 70 they linked bottlenecks, capacity constraints, raw material 60 shortages, disruption to transportation due to the Middle 50 East war, and high demand in some cases. Moreover, the 40 deterioration in supplier performance was the most marked since mid-2022. 30 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Source: S&P Global PMI. ©2026 S&P Global. © 2026 S&P Global ® S&P Global Flash Germany PMI Contact Phil Smith Hannah Brook Economics Associate Director EMEA Corporate Communications S&P Global Market Intelligence S&P Global Market Intelligence T: +44-1491-461-009 T: +44-7483-439-812 phil.smith@spglobal.com hannah.brook@spglobal.com press.mi@spglobal.com If you prefer not to receive news releases from S&P Global, please email press.mi@spglobal.com. To read our privacy policy, click here. Methodology Final April data are published on 4 May for manufacturing and 6 May for services and Flash data are calculated from around 80-90% of total responses and are intended to provide composite indicators. an accurate early indication of the final data. Since flash data were first processed, the ® The S&P Global Flash Germany Composite PMI is compiled by S&P Global from responses to average differences between final and flash index values for the headline indices are: questionnaires sent to survey panels of around 400 manufacturers and 400 service providers. Composite Output Index = 0.0 (absolute difference 0.4) The panels are each stratified by detailed sector and company workforce size, based on Services Business Activity Index = -0.1 (absolute difference 0.6) contributions to GDP. The services sector is defined as consumer (excluding retail), transport, information, communication, finance, insurance, real estate and business services. Manufacturing PMI = 0.0 (absolute difference 0.3) Survey responses are collected in the second half of each month and indicate the direction of S&P Global do not revise underlying survey data after first publication, but seasonal change compared to the previous month. The following variables are monitored: adjustment factors may be revised from time to time as appropriate which will affect the seasonally adjusted data series. Historical data relating to the underlying (unadjusted) Manufacturing: Output, new orders, new export orders, backlogs of work, stocks of finished numbers, first published seasonally adjusted series and subsequently revised data are goods, employment, quantity of purchases, suppliers' delivery times, stocks of purchases, available to subscribers from S&P Global. input prices, output prices, future output. For further information on the PMI survey methodology, please contact Services: Business activity, new business, new export business, outstanding business, economics@spglobal.com. employment, input prices, prices charged, future activity. A diffusion index is calculated for each manufacturing and services variable. The index is the sum of the percentage of ‘higher’ responses and half the percentage of ‘unchanged’ responses. The indices vary between 0 and 100, with a reading above 50 indicating an overall S&P Global increase compared to the previous month, and below 50 an overall decrease. The indices are S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI) provides essential intelligence. We enable governments, businesses then seasonally adjusted. and individuals with the right data, expertise and connected technology so that they can Composite indices for are calculated by weighting together comparable manufacturing and make decisions with conviction. From helping our customers assess new investments services indices using official manufacturing and services annual value added. to guiding them through ESG and energy transition across supply chains, we unlock new opportunities, solve challenges and accelerate progress for the world. The headline figure is the Composite Output Index. This is a weighted average of the Manufacturing Output Index and the Services Business Activity Index. It may be referred to as We are widely sought after by many of the world’s leading organizations to provide credit the ‘Composite PMI’ but is not comparable with the headline Manufacturing PMI, which is a ratings, benchmarks, analytics and workflow solutions in the global capital, commodity and weighted average of five manufacturing indices (including the Manufacturing Output Index). automotive markets. With every one of our offerings, we help the world’s leading organizations ® plan for tomorrow, today. www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/mi/products/pmi The headline manufacturing figure is the Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index™ (PMI ). The PMI is a weighted average of the following five indices: New Orders (30%), Output (25%), Employment (20%), Suppliers’ Delivery Times (15%) and Stocks of Purchases (10%). For the PMI calculation the Suppliers’ Delivery Times Index is inverted so that it moves in a comparable PMI by S&P Global direction to the other indices. ® Purchasing Managers’ Index™ (PMI ) surveys are now available for over 40 countries and also The headline services figure is the Services Business Activity Index. This is a diffusion index for key regions including the eurozone. They are the most closely watched business surveys calculated from a single question that asks for changes in the volume of business activity in the world, favoured by central banks, financial markets and business decision makers for compared with one month previously. The Business Activity Index is comparable to the their ability to provide up-to-date, accurate and often unique monthly indicators of economic Manufacturing Output Index. It may be referred to as the ‘Services PMI’ but is not comparable trends. www.spglobal.com with the headline Manufacturing PMI. 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