Development of new manufacturing orders in June 2023

According to the Federal Statistical Office,¹ 1manufacturing orders in June continued to rise substantially (+0.7%) compared with the previous month. They had already grown significantly (+6.2%) in May. The month-on-month rise was, however, primarily due to large orders. Excluding large orders, new manufacturing orders fell by 2.6% in June.

New orders developed particularly positively in the fields of electrical equipment (+9.6%), pharmaceutical products (+7.0%) and the important mechanical engineering sector (+5.1%). The equally important automotive and automotive parts sector, however, saw a sharp drop of new orders (-7.3%), and new orders also declined in the field of IT and optical equipment (-3.3%).

Altogether, demand in industry continues to paint a mixed picture, characterised by sharp fluctuations and special effects in view of large orders. In the more meaningful quarterly comparison, the development of industrial orders was stable (+0.2%) in the second quarter compared with the first quarter. The outlook for industrial activity, however, remains subdued as the business climate continues to be gloomy and the global economy is still weak.

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¹ Press release by the Federal Statistical Office of 4 August 2023.