Press release No. 217 of 6 June 2023

New orders in manufacturing:
April 2023 (in real terms, provisional):
-0.4% on the previous month (seasonally and calendar adjusted)
-9.9% on the same month a year earlier (calendar adjusted)

March 2023 (in real terms, revised):
-10.9% on the previous month (seasonally and calendar adjusted)
-11.2% on the same month a year earlier (calendar adjusted)

WIESBADEN – Real (price adjusted) new orders in manufacturing fell by 0.4% on a seasonally and calendar adjusted basis in April 2023 compared with March 2023, according to provisional results of the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). In March 2023 new orders decreased by 10.9% (provisional figure: -10.7%). Looking at the less volatile three-month-average, new orders were 2.3% lower in the recent three month period than they were the previous three months. Excluding large-scale orders, there was an increase of 1.4% in April 2023 compared to the previous month.

There were widely differing developments of the economic sectors within manufacturing. The sector manufacture of machinery and equipment (-6.2% compared to March 2023 on a seasonally and calendar adjusted basis) and the sector of miscellaneous vehicle construction (-34.0%) had a particularly strong negative impact on the overall development of new orders. The sector of miscellaneous vehicle construction includes the construction of ships, railed vehicles, aircrafts, spacecrafts and army vehicles. In contrast, the sector manufacture of electrical equipment (+12.0%) and the sector manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers (+2.4%) showed positive develpoments in new orders.

While new orders in the consumer goods sector decreased by 2.5% and in the capital goods sector by 1.7% in April 2023 compared to the previous month, new orders in the intermediate goods sector increased by 2.3%.

Domestic orders rose by 1.6%, while foreign orders sank by 1.8% on the previous month. Here, new orders from the rest of the world fell by 1.1% and orders from the euro area by 2.7%.

 

Turnover down 1.2% in April 2023 on the previous month

According to provisional figures, real turnover in manufacturing (seasonally and calendar adjusted) decreased by 1.2% in April 2023 compared to March 2023. A revision of the provisional figures revealed a decrease of 2.2% in March 2023 from February 2023 (provisional figure: -2.9%). The calendar adjusted turnover in April 2023 was 2.9% higher than in April 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) (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 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.