Press release No. 027 of 21 January 2025

Stock of orders in manufacturing, November 2024
+0.1%, in real terms, on the previous month (seasonally and calendar adjusted)
-0.7%, in real terms, on the same month a year earlier (calendar adjusted)

Range of the stock of orders
7.3 months

WIESBADEN – The real (price adjusted) stock of orders in manufacturing was up 0.1% in November 2024 compared with October 2024 after seasonal and calendar adjustment, according to provisional figures of the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). Compared with November 2023, the calendar adjusted stock of orders was down 0.7% in November 2024.

 

The slightly positive development of the stock of orders is almost entirely due to the increase observed in the automotive industry (+3.2% on the previous month after seasonal and calendar adjustment). The declines witnessed in the manufacture of machinery and equipment (-0.8%) and the manufacture of other transport equipment (aircraft, ships, trains, military vehicles; -1.2%) had a negative impact on the overall result.

Unfilled domestic orders in November 2024 were down 0.3% on October 2024. By contrast, the stock of foreign orders was up by 0.3%.

Producers of capital goods saw the stock of orders increase by 0.4%. The stock of orders for producers of consumer goods decreased by 0.6%, and producers of intermediate goods experienced a decline of 0.9%.

Range of the stock of orders unchanged at 7.3 months

In November 2024, the range of the stock of orders was 7.3 months, as was the case in October 2024. The range declined from 10.0 months to 9.9 months for producers of capital goods. It remained unchanged at 4.1 months for producers of intermediate goods and at 3.6 months for producers of consumer goods.

Assuming turnover remains constant and no new orders are received, the range indicates the number of months local units would, in theory, have to produce goods in order to fill all orders on hand. It is calculated as the ratio between the current stock of orders and average turnover of the last twelve months.

Methodological notes:

In the reference month of September 2024, there are differences between the change rates for the stock of domestic and foreign orders and the change rate for manufacturing as a whole. Such rounding differences can occur as the process of calculating the overall result consists of several steps.

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. 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 stock of orders comprises all new orders received by the end of the reference month which have neither generated any turnover nor been cancelled by that time. The rates of change are based on the price adjusted index of the stock of orders 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 stock of orders is covered and evaluated in accordance with the "Classification of Economic Activities, 2008 edition (WZ 2008)". In the process, information on the stock of orders and information on new orders is only collected in selected branches (only in German) of manufacturing.

For better readability, this press release uses a short form for the names of some economic branches which differs from the designations in the "Classification of Economic Activities (2008 edition)". An overview of these short forms (only in German) is provided on the "Industry, manufacturing" page on the website of the Federal Statistical Office.

More information:

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).

Detailed information on production in energy-intensive industrial branches (only in German) is available on the "Industry, manufacturing" page.