Press release No. 179 of 7 May 2024

New orders in manufacturing:
March 2024 (in real terms, provisional):
-0.4% on the previous month (seasonally and calendar adjusted)
-1.9% on the same month a year earlier (calendar adjusted)

February 2024 (in real terms, revised):
-0.8% on the previous month (seasonally and calendar adjusted)
-8.8% on the same month a year earlier (calendar adjusted)

WIESBADEN – Real (price adjusted) new orders in manufacturing were down 0.4% in March 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 4.3% lower in the period from January to March 2024 than in the previous three months. When large-scale orders are excluded, new orders in March 2024 were 0.1% higher than in February 2024. After revision of the provisional data, there was a decrease of 0.8% in February 2024 from a month earlier (provisional figure: +0.2%).

Within manufacturing, strongly opposing trends can be observed in the individual economic sectors in March 2024. In the "manufacture of other transport equipment" sector (aircraft, ships, trains), new orders fell 2.3% month on month after seasonal and calendar adjustment. Declining new orders in the manufacture of fabricated metal products (-4.5%) also drove down overall performance. By contrast, increases in new orders observed for the automotive industry (+1.1%) and the manufacture of electrical equipment (+5.9%) had a positive impact on overall performance.

New orders for capital goods and intermediate goods were down 0.4% compared with the previous month. The consumer goods sector, however, reported an increase of 0.7%.

Foreign orders rose by 2.0%, with new orders from the euro area increasing by 10.6%. By contrast, orders from the non-euro area dropped by 2.9%. Domestic orders declined by 3.6%.

 

Turnover in March 2024 down 0.7% on the previous month

According to provisional figures, real turnover in manufacturing (seasonally and calendar adjusted) in March 2024 was down 0.7% on the previous month. The calendar adjusted turnover was 3.9% lower than in March 2023. After revision of the provisional results, there was an increase of 1.1% in February 2024 compared with January 2024 (provisional figure: +2.2%).

Revision of earlier results

As of reporting month March 2024, the monthly figures for new orders and turnover from reporting month January 2023 onwards have been revised for the index of new orders and the turnover index. Larger adjustments were made to the turnover index, in particular, because data reported by enterprises in the automotive industry had been corrected. The price adjusted results of the indices of new orders and turnover have been revised as of January 2021 since price indices have been updated.

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.

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 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.