EU industrial new orders up 1.7%

Ireland recorded the second highest level of manufacturing orders worked on in September among EU members, according to new figures released today.

Data from the European Union's statistics office Eurostat shows that industrial new orders in the euro zone rose by 1.5 per cent in September compared to the preceding month. In the European Union as a whole, orders increased by 1.7 per cent.

Excluding ships, railway & aerospace equipment4, for which changes tend to be more volatile, industrial new orders fell by 1.2 per cent in the euro zone and by 0.6 per cent in the EU27 during the month.

A breakdown of figures shows that new orders for capital goods rose by 3.7 per cent and 2.8 per cent respectively in the euro zone and EU 27.

Non-durable consumer goods grew 1.5 per cent and 2 per cent respectively while durable consumer goods increased 1.5 per cent for the euro zone and 1.8 per cent in the European Union as a whole.

Intermediate goods fell by 2.1 per cent and 0.2 per cent respectively during September.

The highest increases in total manufacturing working on orders were in Denmark, which recorded a rise of 43 per cent and Ireland, up 19.7 per cent. The largest decreases were in Estonia, Portugal and Lithuania.

For the 12-month period ended September 30th, there was a 16.5 per cent decline in industrial new orders recorded in the euro zone and a 16 .4 per cent fall in the European Union as a whole.

Over the year, new orders for non-durable consumer goods fell by 4 per cent in the euro zone and by 1.4 per cent in the EU27. Durable consumer goods declined by 13 per cent and 6.7 per cent respectively.

Capital goods dropped by 14.5 per cent in the euro zone and by 16.8 per cent for the European Union as a whole over th year while intermediate goods decreased by 22.5 per cent and 20.7 per cent respectively.

Total manufacturing working on orders fell in all the Member States for which data are available over the year, except Denmark. The largest falls were registered in Estonia and Lithuania while the lowest decreases occurred in France, down 5.8 per cent and Ireland, down 11.1 per cent.