Germany's manufacturing orders continue to decline in May 2024

Germany’s real (price adjusted) new orders in manufacturing fell by 1.6 per cent in May 2024 compared to the previous month, after seasonal and calendar adjustments, according to provisional figures from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). This marks the fifth consecutive monthly decline.

Comparing the three months from March 2024 to May 2024 with the previous three months, new orders were down by 6.2 per cent. This decline is partially attributed to a large-scale order in December 2023. Excluding such large-scale orders, new orders in May 2024 decreased by 2.2 per cent compared to April 2024, and by 0.8 per cent over the three-month period from March 2024 to May 2024.

Revised data shows that new orders in April 2024 decreased by 0.6 per cent from the previous month, a downward adjustment from the provisional figure of minus 0.2 per cent, as per Destatis.

Within the manufacturing sector, contrasting trends emerged among different economic sectors in May 2024. New orders increased in both the intermediate goods sector by 1.4 per cent and the consumer goods sector by 4.9 per cent.

Foreign orders saw a decline of 2.8 per cent, with new orders from the non-euro area dropping by 4.6 per cent, and those from the euro area decreasing by 0.1 per cent. Conversely, domestic orders rose by 0.5 per cent.

Provisional figures indicate that real turnover in manufacturing, adjusted for seasonal and calendar variations, fell by 0.7 per cent in May 2024 compared to the previous month. Calendar adjusted turnover was 6 per cent lower than in May 2023. Revised data shows a decrease of 1.0 per cent in April 2024 compared to March 2024, slightly more than the provisional figure of minus 0.9 per cent.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DP)