Press release No. 064 of 19 February 2025

Stock of orders in manufacturing, December 2024
+0.2%, in real terms, on the previous month (seasonally and calendar adjusted)
-0.6%, in real terms, on the same month a year earlier (calendar adjusted)

Range of the stock of orders
7.5 months

WIESBADEN – The real (price adjusted) stock of orders in manufacturing was up 0.2% in December 2024 compared with November 2024 after seasonal and calendar adjustment, according to provisional figures of the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). Compared with December 2023, the calendar adjusted stock of orders was down 0.6% in December 2024.

 

The increase in the stock of orders in December 2024 was primarily attributable to the development in the "manufacture of other transport equipment" sector (aircraft, ships, trains, military vehicles; +3.0% on the previous month after seasonal and calendar adjustment). A high volume of large-scale orders contributed to the growth in this sector. The increase in the stock of orders in the manufacture of machinery and equipment (+0.4%) also had a positive effect. By contrast, the declines observed in the manufacture of electrical equipment (-0.5%) and in the automotive industry (-0.4%) negatively impacted the overall result.

Unfilled domestic orders in December 2024 were up 2.0% on November 2024. By contrast, the stock of foreign orders decreased by 0.9%.

Producers of capital goods and consumer goods both saw their stocks of orders increase by 0.3%. In the intermediate goods sector, the stock of orders was down 0.5%.

Range of the stock of orders increased to 7.5 months

The range of the stock of orders in December 2024 rose to 7.5 months from 7.3 months in November 2024. The range increased from 9.9 months to 10.1 months for producers of capital goods and from 4.1 months to 4.2 months for producers of intermediate goods. In the consumer goods sector, it remained unchanged at 3.6 months.

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.