Manufacturing Orders in Germany Decline by 0.5% in May 2023, with Stock of Orders Down 3.3% YoY

July 31, 2023

Stock of orders in manufacturing, May 2023
-0.5%, in real terms, on the previous month (seasonally and calendar adjusted)
-3.3%, in real terms, on the same month a year earlier (calendar adjusted)

Range of the stock of orders
7.2 months

The real (price adjusted) stock of orders in manufacturing in Germany was down 0.5% in May 2023 month on month after seasonal and calendar adjustment, according to provisional figures of the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). The calendar adjusted stock of orders was 3.3% lower in May 2023 than in May 2022.

The month-on-month decline in the stock of orders was primarily due to the negative development of unfilled orders in the manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers, which were down 2.6% in May 2023 compared with the previous month after seasonal and calendar adjustment. Reporting a decline of 0.5%, the manufacture of machinery and equipment also negatively impacted the overall result. By contrast, the stock of orders in the manufacture of fabricated metal products (except machinery and equipment) rose substantially by 2.1%.

While unfilled domestic orders in May 2023 were up 0.3% on April 2023, the stock of foreign orders was down 1.0%.

Producers of capital goods saw the stock of orders decline by 0.5%. The stock of orders for producers of intermediate goods also contracted by 0.5%, and a decline of 1.4% was reported in the area of consumer goods.

Range of the stock of orders decreased to 7.2 months

The range of the stock of orders fell to 7.2 months in May 2023 (April 2023: 7.3 months). The range declined to 10.1 months (April 2023:  10.3 months) for producers of capital goods, and remained unchanged at 3.8 months and 3.5 months, respectively, for producers of intermediate goods and producers of consumer goods.

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.

Source: DESTATIS
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