Press release No. 151 of 17 April 2025
Stock of orders in manufacturing, February 2025
+0.3%, in real terms, on the previous month (calendar and seasonally adjusted)
+1.3%, in real terms, on the same month a year earlier (calendar adjusted)
Range of the stock of orders
7.7 months
WIESBADEN – The real (price adjusted) stock of orders in manufacturing was up 0.3% in February 2025 month on month after seasonal and calendar adjustment, according to provisional results of the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). Compared with February 2024, the calendar adjusted stock of orders increased by 1.3% in February 2025.
The growth recorded in the automotive industry (+0.8% on the previous month after seasonal and calendar adjustment) and in the manufacture of machinery and equipment (+0.4%) had a slightly positive impact on the stock of orders in February 2025. The decline observed in the manufacture of basic metals (-1.1%) negatively impacted the overall result.
Unfilled domestic orders in February 2025 were up 0.2% on January 2025 and the stock of foreign orders increased by 0.4%.
The stock of orders for producers of intermediate goods contracted by 0.1%, and producers of consumer goods experienced a decrease of 0.3%. Producers of capital goods saw the stock of orders rise by 0.5%.
Range of the stock of orders increased to 7.7 months
Compared with the previous month, the range of the stock of orders rose to 7.7 months in February 2025 (January 2025: 7.6 months). The range of the stock of orders increased to 10.5 months for producers of capital goods (January 2025: 10.3 months). It rose to 3.7 months for consumer goods producers (January 2025: 3.6 months) and remained unchanged at 4.3 months for intermediate goods producers.
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 in the respective branch.
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. 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.
