According to the Federal ministry for economic affairs (BMWi), the order volume received by German industry fell by 6.9% in December 2008 as compared to the previous month. However, there have been relatively many major orders in December. The number of orders from abroad fell by 9.4% and that of orders from within Germany by 4.3%.
The order volume received from countries within the Eurozone was down by -15.2% and that from other countries by -5.1%.
The biggest drop in incoming orders was registered by manufacturers of investment goods (-9.1%). For producers of intermediate inputs and consumer goods order volumes decreased by 5.0% and 3.1% respectively.
Comparing the two-month periods November/December with September/October 2008, demand for industrial goods fell by 11.6% after adjustments for price and season. Taking into account the entire fourth quarter in 2008, the order volume was down by 15.7% as compared to the third quarter. Comparing the above two-months periods it turned out that domestic and foreign demand changed by -12.0% and -11.3% respectively. The number of incoming orders to producers of intermediate and investment goods fell by 13.9% and 11.5% respectively while manufacturers of consumer goods registered 3.3% less orders.
A list containing detailed figures is available for download.
For the months to come the Federal ministry for economic affairs predicts the order volume to German industry to continue decreasing. 