According to preliminary data by the Federal Statistical Office, the volume of orders received by industry fell by 1.5% in January after adjustments for price and season. In December 2007 the order intake had already diminished by 1.1%. Even though the amount of major orders was once more above average in January, it fell short of the volume reached in the fourth quarter of 2007.
The demand for investment goods, which had earlier most benefitted from major orders, decreased by 1.8%. The manufacturers of intermediate inputs and consumer goods also registered a decrease in their order volume by 1.2% and 0.6% respectively. The number of domestic orders fell slightly more than that from abroad (-1.9% and -1.3%).
At the beginning of 2008 order intake by industry was slightly smaller than in the fourth quarter of 2007. This was due to major orders which accounted for a substantial part of the overall order intake. Furthermore, many orders may have been passed at the end of 2007 in order to still make use of the digressive depreciation method which was abolished at the end of last year.
A table containing detailed data is available from the internet site of the Federal Ministry for the economy. 