Press release No. 270 of 17 July 2020
Stock of orders in manufacturing, May 2020
-0.8% on the previous month (in real terms, seasonally and calendar adjusted)
Range of unfilled orders: 6.0 months
WIESBADEN – Based on provisional data, the price adjusted stock of orders in manufacturing in May 2020 decreased a seasonally and calendar adjusted 0.8% 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 went down 1.2% compared with April 2020.
Compared with February 2020, the month before restrictions were imposed due to the corona pandemic in Germany, unfilled orders in May 2020 were 2.7% lower in seasonally and calendar adjusted terms.
Unfilled orders held by producers of intermediate goods in May 2020 were 1.6% lower than in the previous month. The producers of capital goods recorded a decrease of 0.8%. Regarding consumer goods, the stock rise by 0.5% compared to April 2020.
In May 2020, the range of the stock of orders in manufacturing was 6.0 months (April: 5.9 months). For the producers of intermediate goods, the range of the stock of orders in May 2020 was 2.9 months (previous month also 2.9), for the producers of capital goods 8.5 months (April: 8.3 months) and for consumer goods 2.4 months (April: 2.3 months).
In May 2020, the range of the stock of orders increased because of the recent severe decline in turnover. Besides that the industrial establishments on the whole did not record exceptionally extensive cancellations of orders in May 2020.
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).
German EU Council Presidency
As of 1 July, the Federal Statistical Office will organise the meetings of the Council Working Party on Statistics to be held during Germany’s EU Council Presidency under the chairmanship of its President Dr. Georg Thiel. Information on our activities during the Presidency of the Council of the EU is provided at destatis.de/eu2020.
European statistics are available under „Europe in figures“.
