Press release No. 352 of 6 September 2023

New orders in manufacturing:
July 2023 (in real terms, provisional):
-11.7% on the previous month (seasonally and calendar adjusted)
-10.5% on the same month a year earlier (calendar adjusted)

June 2023 (in real terms, revised):
+7.6% on the previous month (seasonally and calendar adjusted)
+3.3% on the same month a year earlier (calendar adjusted)

WIESBADEN – Real (price adjusted) new orders in manufacturing were down 11.7% in July 2023 month on month after seasonal and calendar adjustment, according to provisional figures of the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). The big fluctuations in new orders seen in the past months therefore continued to be observed in July 2023. After revision of the provisional results, new orders in June 2023 increased by 7.6% compared with May 2023 (provisional figure: +7.0%). The less volatile three-month on three-month comparison showed that new orders were 3.1% higher in the period from May to July 2023 than in the previous three months. New orders excluding large-scale orders were up 0.3% in July 2023 compared with the previous month.

Much of the sharp decline in new orders in July 2023 is due to a very large order reported in the manufacture of air and spacecraft in June 2023. The manufacture of air and spacecraft forms part of the "manufacture of other transport equipment" sector. Due to the large-scale order in the previous month, new orders here decreased by 54.5% in July 2023 on June 2023, after having risen by 72.4% (after revision) in June 2023 compared with May 2023.

Overall, new orders were down in many economic sectors in July 2013. Apart from the decrease in the manufacture of other transport equipment, new orders also declined in the manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products (-23.6%), machinery (-8.7%), electrical equipment (-16.7%) and fabricated metal products (except machinery and equipment) (-14.2%) and this contributed to the negative overall result. By contrast, an increase of 2.7% in new orders was reported in July 2023 by the manufacturers of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers.

New orders in the capital goods sector (including large-scale orders) were down 15.9% in July 2023 on the previous month. In the intermediate goods sector, new orders dropped by 4.5%, while new orders for consumer goods were down 8.2%.

Foreign orders fell by 12.9%, with new orders from the euro area declining by 24.4%, those from the rest of the world falling by 4.1% and domestic orders dropping by 9.7%.

 

Turnover in July 2023 down 1.0% on the previous month

According to provisional figures, real turnover in manufacturing (seasonally and calendar adjusted) in July 2023 was down 1.0% on the previous month. The calendar adjusted turnover was 1.4% higher than in July 2022. After revision of the provisional data, there was a decrease of 1.4% in June 2023 from May 2023 (provisional figure: -1.6%).

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 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 branchesof 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 was used for calendar and seasonal adjustment.

More 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 (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.