Press release No. 086 of 7 March 2023

New orders in manufacturing: January 2023 (in real terms, provisional):
+1.0% on the previous month (seasonally and calendar adjusted)
-10.9% on the same month a year earlier (calendar adjusted)

December 2022 (in real terms, revised):
+3.4% on the previous month (seasonally and calendar adjusted)
-9.9% on the same month a year earlier (calendar adjusted)

WIESBADEN – Real (price adjusted) new orders in manufacturing rose by 1.0% on a seasonally and calendar adjusted basis in January 2023 compared with December 2022, according to provisional results of the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). Excluding large-scale orders, there was an increase of 2.9% in January 2023. On a calendar adjusted basis, new orders were 10.9% lower than in January 2022.

Domestic and foreign orders followed opposing trends in January 2023. While domestic orders dropped by 5.3% on the previous month, foreign orders increased by 5.5%. New orders from the euro area decreased by 2.9%, while orders from the rest of the world increased by 11.2%. The increase in orders from non-euro area countries was mainly due to large-scale orders in the sector of aircraft and spacecraft construction.

As was the case with domestic and foreign orders, the main industrial groupings of manufacturing moved in opposite directions. While new orders in the capital goods sector increased by 8.9% in January 2023, orders in the intermediate goods area decreased by 8.9% compared with the previous month. New orders in the consumer goods sector declined by 5.5%. Apart from the increase in the sector of aircraft and spacecraft construction (+138.5%), capital goods benefitted from strong growth of orders for the manufacture of motor vehicle engines (+6.8%). New orders in most intermediate goods areas were on the decline. The decrease in new orders was especially pronounced in electrical equipment manufacturing (-22.3%), following an increase of 34.3% in the previous month.

After revision of the provisional results, new orders were 3.4% higher in December 2022 than in November 2022 (provisional figure: +3.2%).

Turnover up 0.2% in January 2023 on the previous month

According to provisional figures, real turnover in manufacturing (seasonally and calendar adjusted) increased by 0.2% in January 2023 compared with December 2022. A revision of the provisional figures revealed a decrease of 1.5% in December 2022 from November 2022 (provisional figure: -1.7%). In January 2023, the calendar adjusted turnover was 0.4% lower than in January 2022.

 

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 of seasonally and calendar adjusted figures with those of the previous month or previous quarter. These reflect short-term economic trends. Year-on-year comparisons of calendar adjusted results permit long-term comparisons of levels and are not influenced by seasonal fluctuations and calendar effects. The results of month-on-month, quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year comparisons may differ considerably because of the Covid-19 crisis and the war in Ukraine.

New orders and turnover in manufacturing are recorded and evaluated in accordance with the Classification of Economic Activities, 2008 edition (WZ 2008). Information on new orders is only collected in selected branches of manufacturing (only in german). The rates of change are based on the price adjusted indices of new orders and of turnover in manufacturing. The average figure for 2015 is used as the basis of the index and set to 100 index points (2015 = 100). The X13 JDemetra+ method is used for calendar and seasonal adjustment.

Further information:

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

A dossier on the "Short-term indicator" page of the Federal Statistical Office's website provides an analysis of the relationship between material shortages, new orders, production and prices in industry. Detailed information on production in energy-intensive industrial branches is available on the "Industry, manufacturing" page.

Information on new orders in manufacturing is also available in the Dashboard Germany (www.dashboard-deutschland.de). This data portal of the Federal Statistical Office combines up-to-date indicators from official statistics producers and other data providers on the topics of economy, finance, health and mobility. The portal also contains the Economic Pulse Monitor (Pulsmesser für die Wirtschaft) (only in german), which can be used for real-time monitoring of the economic development.