December 2010 compared with November 2010 Industrial new orders up by 2.1% in euro area Up by 2.5% in EU27

STAT/11/26

23 February 2011

December 2010 compared with November 2010
Industrial new orders up by 2.1% in euro area
Up by 2.5% in EU27

In December 2010 compared with November 2010, the euro area1 (EA16) industrial new orders index2 rose by 2.1%. In November3 the index grew by 2.2%. In the EU271, new orders increased by 2.5% in December 2010, after a rise of 1.7% in November3. Excluding ships, railway & aerospace equipment4, for which changes tend to be more volatile, industrial new orders increased in December 2010 by 1.3% in both zones.

In December 2010 compared with December 2009, industrial new orders grew by 18.5% in both the euro area and the EU27. Total industry excluding ships, railway & aerospace equipment4 rose by 18.9% and 18.6% respectively.

Compared with 2009, the average new orders index for 2010 increased by 17.6% in the euro area and by 17.2% in the EU27.

These estimates are released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Monthly changes

In December 2010 compared with November 2010, new orders for capital goods rose by 3.7% in the euro area and by 5.4% in the EU27. Intermediate goods increased by 2.4% and 2.1% respectively. Non-durable consumer goods rose by 1.9% in the euro area and remained stable in the EU27. Durable consumer goods fell by 2.3% and 1.9% respectively.

Among the Member States for which data are available, total manufacturing working on orders rose in fifteen and fell in seven. The highest increases were registered in Estonia (+26.4%), the Netherlands (+9.7%) and Italy (+9.1%), and the largest decreases in Hungary (-18.5%), Ireland (-12.4%) and Bulgaria (-6.0%).

Annual changes

In December 2010 compared with December 2009, new orders for intermediate goods rose by 26.5% in the euro area and by 24.8% in the EU27. Capital goods increased by 16.9% and 18.3% respectively. Non-durable consumer goods grew by 6.7% in the euro area and by 3.6% in the EU27. Durable consumer goods increased by 2.2% and 3.5% respectively.

Among the Member States for which data are available, total manufacturing working on orders rose in twenty and fell in Greece (-6.5%) and Denmark (-0.9%). The highest increases were registered in Estonia (+114.8%), Lithuania (+50.1%), Finland (+46.3%) and Romania (+42.3%).

• The euro area (EA16) consisted of 16 Member States up to 31 December 2010: Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland. From 1 January 2011 the euro area (EA17) also includes Estonia.

The EU27 includes Belgium (BE), Bulgaria (BG), the Czech Republic (CZ), Denmark (DK), Germany (DE), Estonia (EE), Ireland (IE), Greece (EL), Spain (ES), France (FR), Italy (IT), Cyprus (CY), Latvia (LV), Lithuania (LT), Luxembourg (LU), Hungary (HU), Malta (MT), the Netherlands (NL), Austria (AT), Poland (PL), Portugal (PT), Romania (RO), Slovenia (SI), Slovakia (SK), Finland (FI), Sweden (SE) and the United Kingdom (UK).

As part of Eurostat's guidelines for the dissemination of data when the EU or euro area is enlarged, the aggregate data series commented on refer to the official composition of the euro area in the most recent month for which data are available. Thus News Releases with data for months up to December 2010 comment on EA16 series, while Releases with data for January 2011 onwards will comment on EA17 series.

• The new orders index measures the value of future deliveries of products and services (which are directly linked to these products) to be provided by a producer to a third party on the domestic and non-domestic market. The total manufacturing aggregate includes only those NACE levels required by the STS Regulation to be supplied by the Member States (NACE 13, 14, 17, 20, 21, 24 to 30) and is referred to as “total manufacturing working on orders”. The euro area and EU aggregates normally do not include Member States for which no data is available.

The seasonally adjusted euro area and EU series are calculated by aggregating the unadjusted series from individual Member States and performing an adjustment for seasonal effects on these series. Therefore the seasonally adjusted figures for the European aggregates are based directly on the unadjusted series coming from the Member States and not on an aggregation of the seasonally adjusted indices from the Member States. The euro area and EU seasonally adjusted growth rates might differ from the weighted growth rates of the individual Member States. This procedure also implies that the aggregation of the overall figures is not based on the published details.

• Data of previous months have been revised compared to those issued in News Release 12/2011 of 24 January 2011. The monthly growth rates for November 2010 have been revised from +2.1% to +2.2% for the euro area and from +1.6% to +1.7% for the EU27. The annual growth rates have been revised from +19.9% to +20.0% for the euro area and from +18.9% to +18.8% for the EU27.

• New orders for heavy transport equipment (NACE 30, which includes ships, railway and aerospace equipment) tend to be very volatile with a limited immediate impact on production. The aggregate "Manufacturing working on orders excluding heavy transport equipment" is less erratic. The share of heavy transport equipment in total manufacturing working on orders is 2.9% for the euro area and 3.0% for the EU.

• Data for Ireland is working day adjusted.

Eurostat news releases on the internet: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat

Selected Principal European Economic Indicators: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/euroindicators

Industrial new orders

% change compared with previous month

Seasonally adjusted

: Data not available

c Confidential

Industrial new orders

% change compared with same month of previous year

Gross data

: Data not available

c Confidential

Industrial new orders indices for total manufacturing working on orders

Seasonally adjusted

(Base year 2005)

: Data not available

c Confidential

Industrial new orders indices for total manufacturing working on orders excluding NACE 304

Seasonally adjusted

(Base year 2005)

Industrial new orders indices for total manufacturing working on orders

Gross data

(Base year 2005)

: Data not available

c Confidential

Industrial new orders indices for total manufacturing working on orders excluding NACE 304

Gross data

(Base year 2005)