According to a statement released on June 22 by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, the new industrial orders index in the European Union member states (EU-27) rose slightly by 0.2 percent month on month in April, after a revised month-on-month decrease of 1.7 percent recorded in the previous month. The year-on-year increase in April was recorded at 6.9 percent in the region.
On the other hand, in April this year new industrial orders in the EU-27, excluding ships, railway and aerospace equipment for which changes tend to be more volatile, decreased by 0.6 percent month on month and rose by six percent year on year.
In the EU-27 in the given month, new orders for capital goods rose by 10.2 percent, new orders decreased by 0.1 percent for non-durable consumer goods, rose by 4.1 percent for intermediate goods and decreased by 13.2 percent for durable consumer goods, all compared to April 2010.
On month-on-month basis, among the member states for which data are available, total new industrial orders fell in 13 member states and rose in nine others. The largest decreases were registered in Hungary with 9.6 percent, in Latvia with 7.8 percent and in Bulgaria with 6.7 percent, while the highest increases were seen in Ireland with 11.2 percent, in Finland with 7.1 percent and in Romania with 6.6 percent.