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News Release Embargoed until 0930 CEST (0730 UTC) 21 May 2026 S&P Global Flash Germany PMI® Business activity falls again and job cuts deepen as firms come under increasing pressure from rising costs May 2026 S&P Global Germany Composite PMI Output Gross domestic product Flash Germany PMI Composite Output Index: 48.6 Index, sa, >50 = growth m/m % qr/qr 65 (Apr: 48.4). 2-month high. 2 60 Flash Germany Services PMI Business Activity 1 55 Index: 47.8 (Apr: 46.9). 2-month high. 50 0 Flash Germany Manufacturing Output Index: 50.2 45 -1 (Apr: 52.0). 5-month low. 40 -2 Flash Germany Manufacturing PMI: 49.9 35 (Apr: 51.4). 4-month low. 30 -3 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Data were collected 12-19 May 2026. Sources: S&P Global PMI, Destatis via S&P Global Market Intelligence. © 2026 S&P Global Business activity fell for a second consecutive month across the German private sector economy in May amid a backdrop Comment of weakening demand and elevated inflationary pressures, ® the latest ‘flash’ S&P Global PMI survey showed. The Phil Smith, Economics Associate Director at S&P Global downturn continued to be led by the service sector, although Market Intelligence: there was a stalling of the manufacturing sector as factory "With the 'flash' PMI data for May signalling a second orders fell back into decline. consecutive monthly decrease in business activity, Firms reported a further intensification of cost pressures the German economy is on course to contract in the midway through the second quarter, with manufacturers and second quarter of the year. In manufacturing, the boost services firms alike facing accelerating rates of input price that we saw from efforts to build stocks and get ahead inflation. Average prices charged by businesses rose steeply of price increases and supply shortages appears to be again but more slowly than in the previous month, pointing fizzling out, with the latest data showing a renewed to a squeeze on margins. The pace of job losses across the drop in new orders and a near-stalling of output growth. eurozone's largest economy meanwhile gathered pace, "The disruption from the effective closure of the Strait despite business expectations showing a partial rebound of Hormuz continues to filter through to prices, with from April's low. input cost inflation showing a further acceleration due The S&P Global Flash Germany Composite PMI Output to the knock-on effects of higher energy prices and Index came in at 48.6 in May, little-changed from April's supply shortages. reading of 48.4 and once again signalling a moderate rate of "Although input cost inflation has continued contraction. The decline was centred on the service sector, accelerating, slower rises in both manufacturing and where business activity decreased for the second straight services output prices point to businesses shouldering month, albeit at a slower pace than that seen in April (index a greater proportion of the burden. This suggests at 47.8). Factory output meanwhile recorded only a fractional some containment of inflationary pressures, but it also rise that was the weakest in the current sequence of growth hints at an increased squeeze on company margins that began at the start of the year (index at 50.2). which has consequences of its own, not least for the Businesses reported a reduction in demand for goods and labour market as firms look to mitigate spiralling costs. services in May, citing hesitancy among customers due to Employment fell at the quickest rate for over a year- heightened levels of economic and geopolitical uncertainty and-a-half in May, led by deep cuts to manufacturing as well as a squeeze on spending power from rising prices. workforce numbers." For service providers, it was the third decrease in new business in as many months. Manufacturing new orders meanwhile recorded their first decline since December last © 2026 S&P Global S&P Global Flash Germany PMI® year. In both sectors, firms reported lower inflows of new Germany Services PMI Business Activity business from abroad. Germany Manufacturing PMI Output Index, sa, >50 = growth m/m Turning to prices, latest data showed a further acceleration 70 in the rate of input cost inflation to the quickest for three- 65 and-a-half years. This reflected faster increases in both the manufacturing and service sectors, with the former 60 continuing to record by far the steeper rate of inflation. 55 Goods producers noted the increased cost of commodities, energy, fuel and transportation, with supply shortages 50 adding to cost pressure. May saw lead times on purchases 45 lengthen for the ninth month running, and to the greatest 40 extent since June 2022. 35 Despite facing spiralling costs, firms were generally less 21 22 23 24 25 26 aggressive with their price increases in May. The overall rate Source: S&P Global PMI. ©2026 S&P Global. of output price inflation, although still well above its long-run average, ticked down from April's 37-month high, reflecting slower increases in charges set by both manufacturers and S&P Global Germany Manufacturing PMI Index, sa, >50 = improvement m/m services firms. 70 A combination of weaker demand and cost-saving measures 65 led to further job losses across the German private sector 60 at the midway point of the second quarter. Furthermore, the pace of staff retrenchment accelerated to the quickest seen 55 for over a year-and-a-half. Employment fell at faster rates 50 in both monitored sectors, although it was manufacturing 45 that recorded by far the sharper drop in payroll numbers. 40 The latest round of staff shedding coincided with signs of declining capacity utilisation, as evidenced by a marked and 35 accelerated reduction in backlogs of work. 30 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Lastly, May's flash results indicated a partial rebound in Source: S&P Global PMI. ©2026 S&P Global. businesses' expectations for activity over the coming year. After hitting a 19-month low in April, sentiment ticked up due to improvements in both manufacturing and services, Services PMI Input Prices Services PMI Prices Charged although it was still at the second-lowest level in over a year Manufacturing PMI Input Prices and comfortably below the long-run series average. Manufacturing PMI Output Prices Index, sa, >50 = inflation m/m 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 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 May data are published on 1 June for manufacturing and 3 June 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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