Press release No. 051 of 19 February 2020

Stock of orders in manufacturing, December 2019
-0,3 % on the previous month (price, seasonally and calendar adjusted)
Range of the stock of orders remains at 5.7 months

WIESBADEN – Based on provisional data, the price adjusted stock of orders in manufacturing in December 2019 decreased a seasonally and calendar adjusted 0,3% on the previous month, as reported by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). Domestic orders not yet completed fell 0.1% on the previous month, the stock of foreign orders decreased 0.3%. The stock of orders comprises the total of new orders received by the end of the reference month which have not led to any turnover and have not been cancelled by that time.

Unfilled orders for producers of intermediate goods in December 2019 were by 0.4% higher than in the previous month. The producers of capital goods recorded an decrease of 0.4%. Regarding consumer goods, the stock rose by 0.7% compared to November 2019.

In December 2019, the range of the stock of orders in manufacturing was 5.7 months (previous month 5.6 months). The range indicates for how many months establishments, theoretically, would have to produce goods until all orders on hand are filled - with turnover remaining constant and without any new orders being received. It is calculated as the ratio between the current stock of orders and average turnover per month in the respective branch.

For the producers of intermediate goods, the range of the stock of orders in December 2019 was 2.9 months (previous month 2.8), for the producers of capital goods 7.9 months (previous month 7.8) and for consumer goods 2.1 months (previous month also 2.1).

Methodological notes: 

The data on unfilled orders are based on the volume index of the stock of orders in manufacturing, seasonally and calendar adjusted by means of the X13 JDemetra+ method. The index of the stock of orders covers only selected branches of manufacturing, as does the index of new orders.

Detailed data are available from the GENESIS-Online database (42155-0004 indices of the stock of orders and 42113-0001 ranges of the stock of orders).