Development of new manufacturing orders in January 2023

According to the Federal Statistical Office¹, new manufacturing orders rose between December and January by 1.0%.² This is the second month of growth in a row after the significant decline seen in 2022. Excluding large-scale orders, the increase would have been even more pronounced (+2.9%). Overall, however, orders were still down just under 11% year-on-year.



In monthly terms, domestic and foreign demand developed very differently. While foreign demand continued to pick up in January (+5.5%), domestic orders have recently been weaker again (-5.3%). Development within the manufacturing sector also varied: While the important sector of cars & car parts recorded considerable growth of 6.7%, mechanical engineering (-3.9%), metal products (-5.7%) and chemical products (-5.9%) saw significant declines.



Demand in the manufacturing sector appears to be stabilising further at the turn of the year 2022 / 2023. Likewise, the business climate improved in recent months. Overall, the increasing stabilisation of ordering activity in the manufacturing sector suggests that the current phase of economic weakness will not be very significant.

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¹ Press release from the Federal Statistical Office of 7 March 2023.
² Unless stated otherwise, all figures are based on provisional data and have been adjusted for price, calendar day and seasonal factors (X13 JDemetra+ procedure).