Press release No. 174 of 5 May 2023

New orders in manufacturing:
March 2023 (in real terms, provisional):
-10.7% on the previous month (seasonally and calendar adjusted)
-11.0% on the same month a year earlier (calendar adjusted)

February 2023 (in real terms, revised):
+4,5% on the previous month (seasonally and calendar adjusted)
-6.0% on the same month a year earlier (calendar adjusted)

WIESBADEN – Real (price adjusted) new orders in manufacturing fell by 10.7% on a seasonally and calendar adjusted basis in March 2023 compared with February 2023, according to provisional results of the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). This is the strongest decline since the breaking down of new orders in April 2020 as a result of the corona pandemic. The decrease follows an increase of new orders by 4.5% in February 2023 (provisional figure: +4.8%). Considering the first quarter of the year 2023, new orders were 0.2% higher than they were in the last quarter of the previous year. Excluding large-scale orders, there was a decrease of 7.7% in March 2023 compared to the previous month.

The negative trend of new orders is visible in most economic sectors in manufacturing. The overall result was significantly influenced by the decline in the sector of miscellaneous vehicle construction (construction of ships, railed vehicles, aircrafts, spacecrafts and army vehicles), where new orders went down by 47.4% in March 2023 on the previous month on a seasonally and calendar adjusted basis. In this sector, there was an increase of 55.0% in February 2023 on the previous month due to large-scale orders, which were discontinued in the current month. Motor vehicles and motor vehicle parts (-12.2% on previous month) also had a big impact on the results.

While new orders in the capital goods sector decreased by 14.1% and in the intermediate goods area by 7.5% in March 2023 compared to the previous month, new orders in the consumer goods sector increased by 1.2%.

Foreign orders sank by 13.3%, domestic orders by 6.8% on the previous month. Thereby, new orders from the rest of the world fell by 14.8% and orders from the euro area by 10.8%.

 

Turnover down 2.9% in March 2023 on the previous month

According to provisional figures, real turnover in manufacturing (seasonally and calendar adjusted) decreased by 2.9% in March 2023 compared to February 2023. A revision of the provisional figures revealed an increase of 1.5% in February 2023 from January 2023 (provisional figure validated). The calendar adjusted turnover in March 2023 was 3.7% higher than in March 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. 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 indicators" 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 tool (Pulsmesser für die Wirtschaft) (only in german), which can be used for real-time monitoring of the economic development.