Trends in Key Customer Industries

In 2025, global industrial production expanded more strongly than in the previous year and was as high as the growth rate of global gross domestic product. In the chemical industry’s customer industries, growth was very weak in the construction industry and in consumer durables, while the automotive industry and health and nutrition grew moderately. Particularly high growth was recorded in the electrical and electronics industry.

Global industrial production expanded by 2.9% overall (2024: 2.0%). In advanced economies, growth was weak (2025: 0.6%, 2024: –0.7%), while the emerging markets saw growth of 4.7% (2024: 4.1%). In the EU, industrial production increased by 1.3%; in North America, it stagnated, and in Asia it grew by 4.8% overall. More than 80% of global industrial growth was achieved in Asia.

In 2025, global automotive production increased by 3.7% from 89.6 to 92.9 million passenger cars and light commercial vehicles. In China, the world’s largest automotive market, production increased by 10.4%. In the EU and in North America, production fell by around 1%. In South Korea, too, production fell slightly by 0.6%, while in Japan it increased by 1.3%. Growth in the global production of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) was significantly higher than that of the market as a whole: A total of 3.3 million more BEVs were produced, which corresponds to growth in this segment of around 28.9% compared with the previous year. Consequently, electric vehicles’ share of all vehicles produced rose from around 13% in 2024 to approximately 16% in 2025.

The energy and resources sector expanded by 3.6%, more strongly than in the previous year (1.6%). The production of non-energy raw materials grew faster than the production of energy raw materials and was also significantly stronger than in the previous year. Oil and gas production also expanded again following a decline in the previous year, especially in the Middle East.

Growth in the construction industry was low. Overall, construction activity increased by only 0.4%. While residential construction declined by 1.7%, commercial building construction almost stagnated. In contrast, the infrastructure segment grew by around 3%. In the EU, the construction volume increased slightly. While infrastructure construction increased moderately, building construction stagnated. In the United States, in contrast, both residential construction and nonresidential construction declined significantly, after these segments had grown significantly in the previous year. Infrastructure construction in the United States largely stagnated. In China, construction activity in residential construction continued to decline significantly, while it shrank slightly in nonresidential construction. In the infrastructure segment, construction activity again increased significantly. Overall, the Chinese market declined slightly.

After stagnating in the previous year, consumer goods production increased by 1.9% in 2025, lagging behind global GDP growth. However, growth rates developed very differently in the individual segments: In the furniture industry, production fell slightly after having almost stagnated in the previous year. In the textile industry, growth was below average and declined slightly compared to the previous year. Growth in the production of chemicals for the manufacture of care products was also weak.

The electronics industry expanded even faster than in the previous year, by around 9%, with high growth rates in semiconductors, communication electronics and consumer electronics.

Production in the health and nutrition sector increased by more than 4%. While the food industry recorded below-average growth similar to the previous year, the pharmaceutical industry grew significantly stronger than global GDP. In the food industry, growth in Europe and North America remained weak overall, while in Asia it was well above the global average. In contrast, the higher growth in the pharmaceutical industry was strongly influenced by Europe, with very high growth rates in Ireland.

At 3.5%, growth in the agricultural sector was above the level of the previous year. Almost 90% of the growth came from the Asia Pacific region, where weather conditions were better than in the previous year. Production in China and India, the region’s two largest producers, increased by 5.0% and 3.8% respectively. Production also increased significantly in South America, mainly due to recovery effects after the flood-related crop failures in Brazil in the previous year. In the EU, production increased by only 1.4%. In North America, however, production declined, partly due to decreasing demand from China due to the trade conflict with the United States.