Press release No. 139 of 5 April 2024

New orders in manufacturing:
February 2024 (in real terms, provisional):
+0.2% on the previous month (seasonally and calendar adjusted)
-10.6% on the same month a year earlier (calendar adjusted)

January 2024 (in real terms, revised):
-11.4% on the previous month (seasonally and calendar adjusted)
-6.2% on the same month a year earlier (calendar adjusted)

WIESBADEN – Real (price adjusted) new orders in manufacturing were up 0.2% in February 2024 month on month after seasonal and calendar adjustment, according to provisional figures of the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). The less volatile three-month on three-month comparison showed that new orders were 2.8% higher in the period from December 2023 to February 2024 than in the previous three months. However, the increase is mainly due to a large-scale order in December. When large-scale orders are excluded, new orders were down 2.0% in the period from December 2023 to February 2024 compared with the three months before. After revision of the provisional data, there was an 11.4% decrease in January 2024 from a month earlier (provisional figure: -11.3%).

Within manufacturing, strongly opposing trends can be observed in the individual economic sectors in February 2024. Rising new orders in the manufacture of machinery and equipment (+10.7% on the previous month, seasonally and calendar adjusted) had a positive impact on overall performance, after new orders had declined considerably for two consecutive months. Rising new orders in the chemical industry (+3.1%) and the pharmaceutical industry (+6.6%) also had a positive effect. By contrast, declining new orders in the  automotive industry (-8.1%) and the manufacture of fabricated metal products (-5.3%) drove down overall performance.

New orders for capital goods were down 0.6%. In February 2024, new orders were up on the previous month in both the intermediate goods sector (+1.0%) and the consumer goods sector (+2.2%).

Foreign orders fell by 0.7%, with new orders from the euro area declining by 13.1%. By contrast, new orders from the non-euro area increased by 7.8%. Domestic orders rose by 1.5%.

Turnover in February 2024 up 2.2% on the previous month

According to provisional figures, real turnover in manufacturing (seasonally and calendar adjusted) in February 2024 was up 2.2% on the previous month. The calendar adjusted turnover was 5.8% lower than in February 2023. After revision of the provisional data, there was a decrease of 5.2% in January 2024 from a month earlier. There had been larger revisions in the “manufacture of machinery and equipment” sector and the automotive industry, the provisional figure was -2.0%.

 

Methodological notes:

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 quarter. These reflect short-term economic trends. Year-on-year comparisons of calendar adjusted results enable long-term comparisons of levels and are not influenced by seasonal fluctuations or calendar effects. The results of month-on-month, quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year comparisons may differ considerably due to 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 collected only 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 2021 is used as the basis of the index and set to 100 index points (2021 = 100). The X13 JDemetra+ method was used for calendar and seasonal adjustment.

The manufacture of chemicals and chemical products (Division 20 of WZ) is referred to as the “chemical industry” in this press release. The manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations (Division 21 of WZ) is referred to as the “pharmaceutical industry” in this press release. The manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers (Division 29 of WZ) is referred to as the “automotive industry” in this press release.

More information:

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

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 (only in German) is available on the "Industry, manufacturing" page.

Information on new orders in manufacturing is also available on Dashboard Germany www.dashboard-deutschland.de (only in German). 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 the economy, finance, health and mobility. The portal also contains the Economic Pulse Monitor tool (Pulsmesser für die Wirtschaft) (only in German) for real-time economic monitoring.