Press release No. 155 of 6 May 2020
March 2020 (provisional): new orders in manufacturing
-15.6% on the previous month (price, seasonally and calendar adjusted)
-16.0% on the same month a year earlier (price and calendar adjusted)
February 2020 (revised): new orders in manufacturing
-1.2% on the previous month (price, seasonally and calendar adjusted)
+1.9% on the same month a year earlier (price and calendar adjusted)
WIESBADEN - The number of new orders in manufacturing in Germany decreased significantly in March 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic. According to provisional results of the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), real (price adjusted) new orders decreased by a seasonally and calendar adjusted 15.6% in March 2020 compared with February 2020. This is the largest decline since the beginning of the time series in January 1991. Compared with March 2019, the decrease in calendar adjusted new orders amounted to 16.0%. Excluding major orders, real new orders in manufacturing (seasonally and calendar adjusted) were 15.5% lower than in the previous month.
Domestic orders decreased by 14.8% and foreign orders fell by 16.1% in March 2020 on the previous month. New orders from the euro area went down 17.9%, and new orders from other countries decreased by 15.0% compared with February 2020.
In March 2020 the manufacturers of intermediate goods saw new orders decrease by 7.5% compared with February 2020. The manufacturers of capital goods saw a decrease of 22.6% on the previous month. Regarding consumer goods, new orders fell 1.3%.
For February 2020, revision of the preliminary outcome resulted in a decrease of 1.2% compared with January 2020 (provisional: -1.4%).
Turnover -11.5% (seasonally adjusted) on the previous month
According to provisional results, price-adjusted turnover in manufacturing in March 2020 went down a seasonally and calendar adjusted 11.5% on the previous month. In February 2020, the corrected figure showed an increase of 0.5%, compared to January 2020 (provisional: +0.1%).
Methodological notes
The data on new orders and turnover are based on the volume index of manufacturing, seasonally and calendar adjusted by means of X13 JDemetra+. (The underlying mathematical-statistical method is not fundamentally different from the previously applied method X-12-ARIMA.)
New orders and turnover are covered and evaluated in accordance with the Classification of Economic Activities, 2008 edition (WZ 2008). New orders are covered only in selected economic branches of manufacturing.
Detailed data and long time series are available from the GENESIS-Online database (indices of new orders 42151-0004, indices of new orders excluding major orders 42151-0008 and turnover indices 42152-004).
