According to the European Statistical Office (Eurostat), the number of orders received by industry in the Eurozone (EZ13) fell by 3.6% in December 2007 as compared to the previous month. In November 2007 order intake had still increased by 2.0%. In the EU27 incoming orders decreased by 1.2% and 0.2% in December and November 2007 respectively on the previous months. In comparison to December 2006 the number of incoming orders increased by 2.1% and 7.5% in the Eurozone and the EU27 respectively in December 2007.
Not taking into account shipbuilding, rail vehicle building as well as aircraft and spacecraft building, incoming orders decreased by 0.8% and 0.5% in the Eurozone and the EU27 respectively in December 2007 as compared to November. In comparison with December 2006, incoming orders in this field increased by 3.3% and 6.6% respectively in December 2007.
The average 2007 figures for incoming orders to industry in the Eurozone and the EU27 were 8.2% and 10.1% higher than the average figures for 2006.
Monthly changes
In comparison to the previous month incoming orders for electric and electronic products increased by 1.6% and 0.9% in the Eurozone and the EU27 in December 2007. Incoming orders to the chemical industry fell by 0.6% and 3.1% respectively. Order intake to mechanical engineering fell by 1.1% in both geographical regions. In the clothing and textile industry the respective figures fell by 1.7% and 1.5%. In metal production and the production of metal products the number of incoming orders fell by 4.0% and 3.5% respectively. The incoming order index for vehicle construction fell by 10.0% and 4.4% respectively.
There were seven EU member states in which an increase of incoming orders to the processing industry was registered and twelve countries where incoming orders decreased. The biggest increases were registered in Lithuania (+23.2%), Poland (+11.3%) and Romania (+6.9%). The sharpest falls were observed in Bulgaria (-14.0%), Denmark (-9.6%) and Italy (-8.1%).
Yearly changes
In comparison to December 2006 incoming orders in mechanical engineering and plant production increased by 6.5% and 7.4% in the Eurozone and the EU27 respectively in December 2007. For electric and electronic devices these figures increased by 4.3% and 7.4% respectively. In the chemical industry, incoming orders increased by 2.8% and 4.4% respectively. Metal production and the production of metal products increased by 1.5% in the Eurozone and fell by 0.2% in the EU27. In vehicle production the number of incoming orders fell by 1.5% in the Eurozone while it increased by 15.7% in the EU27. The respective figures for the textile and clothing industry were -4.0% and -2.6%.
There were increases in the number of incoming order to the processing industry in ten EU member states and a decline in nine countries. The strongest increases were in Poland (+87.3%), Romania (+31.5%) and Lithuania (+19.9%). The most significant decreases were registered in Bulgaria (-11.2%), Ireland (-9.4%) and Portugal (-7.7%). 
Explanations:
- EZ13: Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia and Finland.
- EZ15: EZ13 enlarged on January 1st by Cyprus and Malta
- EU27: Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden and Great Britain.