Sensors and metrology shows stable growth at a high level and invests again

The AMA Association for Sensor and Measuring Technology e.V. (AMA) surveyed its members in January 2022 on the economic development of the past fiscal year. According to its own information, the industry generated an overall increase in sales of twenty percent, compared to the previous year. In the first quarter, the industry recorded a significant increase in sales due to a catch-up effect, while the subsequent quarters showed stable sales at a high level. 

The industry is once again showing a willingness to invest. While investments declined in 2020, AMA members invested twelve percent more last year and plan to increase investments by a further 14 percent in the current year. This shows that the sensor and measurement technology sector is an optimistic industry in a spirit of optimism.

Exports down due to pandemic

Until now, the industry’s export quotas have grown continuously, but this changed last year. The export quota decreased by eleven percent, but overall, with an export quota of 50 percent, sensor and measurement technology is within the comparable average of the industry.

Number of employees increases, short-time work decreases significantly

Short-time work fell at AMA member companies from around 50 percent in the comparable quarter to seven percent in Q4 2021. If the industry hired three percent new employees last year, it plans to hire another plus five percent this year.

Positive development in R&D intensity

The AMA Association asked its members about the percentage of sales that companies invest in research and development. The large companies invested twelve percent and the small and medium-sized ones ten percent. Overall, the industry invested around eleven percent of sales in research and development. This is a comparably high R&D intensity to that achieved by the electronics industry. This has the highest in Germany, according to the latest study by ZEW (Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research).

Summary statement

“If the year 2020 was challenging for our members due to the pandemic, they were able to catch up significantly last year and use catch-up effects for themselves. “, says Thomas Simmons, Managing Director AMA Association for Sensor and Measurement Technology. “Sales are stabilizing at a high level, and the industry is investing in research and development and hiring new employees. This illustrates the optimistic mood of optimism in our industry for the current fiscal year.”