Orders fell by 0.4 percent compared to the previous month, as the Federal Statistical Office announced on Tuesday.
(Photo: imago images / photothek)
Berlin Surprisingly, German industry again had to put up with a drop in orders in April. Orders fell by 0.4 percent compared to the previous month, as the Federal Statistical Office announced on Tuesday. Economists surveyed by the Reuters news agency, on the other hand, had expected an increase of 3.0 percent after March saw the largest drop in orders of 10.9 percent since the beginning of the corona pandemic in April 2020.
“Despite the slump in March, incoming orders did not recover in April, contrary to expectations,” commented Commerzbank chief economist Jörg Krämer. That is a bad signal. “The technical recession in the winter half-year was not a slip-up.” Together with the worldwide interest rate increases, there is much to suggest that the German economy will shrink again in the second half of the year.
Chief economist Alexander Krüger from Hauck Aufhäuser Lampe Privatbank described the data as a huge disappointment. “This means that the economic feeling is becoming more and more queasy.” In industry, things are anything but smooth.
“In any case, the downward trend is intact, it has been going on for more than a year.” The weak phase in the USA will tend to reinforce this. There is still a backlog of orders. “The ride for the industry will remain a tough one, also because of the climate policy in this country.”
The Federal Ministry of Economics also reacted cautiously. However, there would have been an increase in orders of 1.4 percent in April if large orders were excluded. “The export-oriented German economy is suffering particularly from the still weak global economy and the decline in orders from the euro area,” the ministry said. Domestic demand, on the other hand, is relatively stable. “Overall, however, the weak incoming orders do not yet indicate short-term growth impulses for industrial production.”
Domestic orders in April rose 1.6 percent mom, while overseas demand slipped 1.8 percent.
More: These three manufacturers of packaging are to be sold