Press release No. 470 of 6 October 2021

New orders in manufacturing:
August 2021 (in real terms, provisional):
-7.7% on the previous month (seasonally and calendar adjusted)
+11.7% on the same month a year earlier (calendar adjusted )
July 2021 (in real terms, revised):
+4.9% on the previous month (seasonally and calendar adjusted)
+26.1% on the same month a year earlier (calendar adjusted )

WIESBADEN – Real (price adjusted) new orders in manufacturing fell by 7.7%, on a seasonally and calendar adjusted basis, in August 2021 compared with July 2021, according to provisional results of the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). The sharp fall was preceded by strong increases in the previous months of July 2021 (+4.9%) and June 2021 (+4.6%), which in part were due to major orders in manufacture of other transport equipment (aircraft, ships, trains etc.). Not including major orders, a 5.1% decline in new orders in manufacturing was recorded in August 2021.

Also, new orders in manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers were down by 12.0% in August 2021, in manufacture of basic metals by 9.6%. Producers complain about delivery bottlenecks of intermediate products.

Compared with February 2020, the month before restrictions were imposed due to the corona pandemic in Germany, new orders in August 2021 were 8.5% higher in seasonally and calendar adjusted terms. Compared with August 2020, when new orders were affected by the pandemic, they were by a calendar adjusted 11.7% higher.

Domestic orders were down 5.2% in August 2021 on the previous month. Foreign orders fell by 9.5%. New orders from the euro area increased by 1.6%, orders from other countries decreased by 15.2%

Producers of intermediate goods saw new orders in August 2021 fall 2.8% on the month before. The producers of capital goods recorded a decrease of 11.1%. Regarding consumer goods, orders were down 2.7%.

After revision of provisional results for July 2021, an increase of 4.9% on June 2021 was recorded (provisional figure: +3.4%). The difference from the provisional result is due to late reporting of major orders in manufacture of fabricated metal products, manufacture of machinery and equipment and manufacture of other transport equipment.

Turnover down 5.9% on the previous month

According to provisional figures, real turnover in manufacturing (seasonally and calendar adjusted) was down 5.9% in August 2021 compared with July 2021. In calendar adjusted terms it was exactly at previous year’s level.

Compared with February 2020, the month before restrictions were imposed due to the corona pandemic in Germany, turnover in August 2021 was 10.2% lower in seasonally and calendar adjusted terms.

After revision of provisional results for July 2021, an increase in turnover of 1.9% on June 2021 was recorded. This confirms the provisional result.

Methodological note:

The differing comparative periods must be taken into account in all press releases on short-term indicators. Short-term economic monitoring focuses on comparisons with the previous month or previous quarter. These reflect short-term economic trends. A calendar adjusted comparison with the previous year is intended to offer a long-term comparison of levels and is independent of seasonal fluctuations. Due to strong temporary decreases and increases during the current coronavirus crisis, the results of month-on-month/quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year comparisons may differ considerably. To enable a direct comparison with the pre-crisis level, all press releases on short-term indicators available in seasonally adjusted form will, for the time being, also include a comparison with February 2020 or the 4th quarter of 2019.

The data on new orders and on turnover are based on the volume index of manufacturing, calendar and seasonally adjusted by means of the X13 JDemetra+ method.

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 branches of manufacturing.

Detailed data and long time series are available from the GENESIS-Online database: indices of new orders (42151-0004) and indices of new orders excluding large-scale orders (42151-0008) and turnover indices (42152-0004).

Crisis Monitor enables comparison between corona crisis and financial/economic crisis

The index of new orders is also part of the “Crisis Monitor“ (www.destatis.de/krisenmonitor), by means of which the Federal Statistical Office compares the development of major short-term indicators in the corona crisis and the financial and economic crisis of 2008/2009. The “Crisis monitor” complements the “Corona statistic“ webpage, which has provided statistical information on the economic and social consequences of the corona pandemic.