Data published by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) showed that in February, factory orders increased by 0.2% after falling by 11.4% in January (revised from -11.3%). Economists had expected growth of 0.8%. Meanwhile, over the last three months (through February), factory orders rose by 2.8% compared to the previous three months. However, the increase is mainly due to a large-scale order in December. When large-scale orders are excluded, new orders were down 0.8% in the period from December 2023 to February 2024.
Destatis said that the February change was caused by an increase in new orders in the manufacture of machinery and equipment (+10.7% m/m), chemical industry (+3.1% m/m) and the pharmaceutical industry (+6.6% m/m). Meanwhile, a drop in new orders was recorded in the automotive industry (-8.1% m/m) and the manufacture of fabricated metal products (-5.3% m/m).
As for sectors, new orders fell in the capital goods sector (-0.6% m/m), and increased in the intermediate goods sector (+1.0% m/m) and in the consumer goods sector (+2.2% m/m),
Meanwhile, foreign orders declined by 0.7% compared to January, while new orders from the euro area fell by 13.1% and orders from the rest of the world rose by 7.8%. Domestic orders rose by 1.5% on a monthly basis.