Press release No. 218 of 17 June 2020

Stock of orders in manufacturing, April 2020
-1.1% on the previous month (in real terms, seasonally and calendar adjusted)
Range of unfilled orders: 5.9 months

WIESBADEN –Based on provisional data, the price adjusted stock of orders in manufacturing in April 2020 decreased a seasonally and calendar adjusted 1.1% on the previous month, as reported by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). Domestic orders not yet completed fell 1.2% on the previous month, the stock of foreign orders went down 1.0% compared with March 2020. The strong decline in new orders in April 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic had only a moderate impact on the stock of orders in manufacturing. The data show, in particular, that the industrial establishments on the whole did not record exceptionally extensive cancellations of orders in April.

Unfilled orders held by producers of intermediate goods in April 2020 were 3.5% lower than in the previous month. The producers of capital goods recorded a decrease of 0.5%. Regarding consumer goods, the stock fell by 0.3% compared to March 2020.

In April 2020, the range of the stock of orders in manufacturing was 5.9 months (March: 5.8 months). For the producers of intermediate goods, the range of the stock of orders in April 2020 was 2.9 months (March: 3.0 months), for the producers of capital goods 8.3 months (March:8.0 months) and for consumer goods 2.3 months (March: 2.3 also months).

In April 2020, the range of the stock of orders increased, especially for capital goods producers, because of the recent severe decline in turnover.

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 of the last 12 month in the respective branch.

Methodological notes:

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.

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.
Results regarding the stock of orders in manufacturing, also by branch, are available on the “Corona statistics” webpage of the Federal Statistical Office together with other indicators which can be used to assess the economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.

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).