According to the latest data released by Eurostat, the euro area industrial new orders index fell by 2.1% and in the EU new orders decreased by 0.8% in July 2011 compared with June 2011. Excluding ships, railway and aerospace equipment, for which changes tend to be more volatile, industrial new orders rose by 1.4% in the euro area and by 0.9% in the EU.

Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union published the latest estimates on the industrial new orders in Europe. In July 2011 compared with June 2011, the euro area industrial new orders index fell by 2.1%. In June the index dropped by 1.2%. In the EU new orders decreased by 0.8% in July 2011, after a fall of 0.8% also in June. Excluding ships, railway and aerospace equipment, for which changes tend to be more volatile, industrial new orders rose by 1.4% in the euro area and by 0.9% in the EU. However, compared with July 2010, industrial new orders increased by 8.4% in the euro area and by 6.8% in the EU. Total industry excluding ships, railway and aerospace equipment rose by 8.2% and 7.5% respectively.

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. Eurostat also warns that due to the volatility of industrial new orders, the figures can vary significantly from month to month and therefore short term movements should be interpreted with caution.

In July 2011 compared with June 2011, new orders for capital goods fell by 2.5% in the euro area and by 5.8% in the EU. However, these data compared with July 2010 shows that new orders for capital goods rose by 11.4% in the euro area and by 9.2% in the EU. Non-durable consumer goods dropped by 0.1% in the euro area, but gained 1.3% in the EU compared to June 2011. Compared to July 2010, non-durable consumer goods rose by 1.8% and 1.2% respectively. Intermediate goods increased by 2.3% and 1.1% respectively and compared to July 2010 increased by 8.0% and 6.7% respectively. Durable consumer goods rose by 5.1% in the euro area and by 1.3% in the EU. In July 2011 compared with July 2010, durable consumer goods gained 3.8% in the euro area, but fell by 2.6% in the EU.

With regard to the data issued by Member States, total manufacturing working on orders rose in eleven and fell in eleven. The largest decreases were registered in France (-11.2%), Finland (-10.3%), Slovakia (-7.7%) and Denmark (-7.5%), and the highest increases in Sweden (+5.8%), Romania (+3.6%), Lithuania (+2.9%) and Estonia (+2.6%). In July 2011 compared with July 2010, total manufacturing working on orders rose in sixteen and fell in six. The highest increases were registered in Estonia (+24.5%), Lithuania (+24.4%), Bulgaria (+21.8%) and Portugal (+19.6%), and the largest decreases in Hungary (-6.0%), Spain (-1.9%) and Slovakia (-1.4%).