EU-27 new industrial orders down 0.2 percent in January over December

According to a statement released on March 24 by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, the new industrial orders index in the European Union member states (EU-27) decreased by 0.2 percent month on month in January, after a revised month-on-month increase of 0.9 percent recorded in December 2009. The year-on-year increase in January was recorded at 6.4 percent in the region.
 
On the other hand, in January new industrial orders in the EU-27, excluding ships, railway and aerospace equipment for which changes tend to be more volatile, fell by 0.1 percent month on month and rose by 7.5 percent year on year.
 
In the EU-27 in the given month, new orders for capital goods dropped by 4.6 percent, new orders fell by 0.6 percent for non-durable consumer goods, rose by 4.6 percent for intermediate goods and decreased by 0.1 percent for durable consumer goods, all compared to December 2009.
 
On month-on-month basis, among the member states for which data are available, total new industrial orders fell in eleven member states and rose in eight others. The largest decreases were registered in Greece with 11 percent, in France with 10.8 percent and in Denmark with 6.8 percent, while the highest increases were seen in Ireland with 31.3 percent, in Romania with 8.3 percent and in Lithuania and Poland, both with six percent.