In May 2008 compared with April 2008, the euro area (EA15) industrial new orders index fell by 3.5%. In April the index rose by 2.0%. In the EU271 new orders decreased by 4.7% in May 2008 after growing by 3.6% in April3. Excluding ships, railway & aerospace equipment industrial new orders declined by 2.5% in the euro area and by 2.4% in the EU27.
In May 2008 compared with May 2007, industrial new orders fell by 4.4% in the euro area and by 2.8% in the EU27. Total industry excluding ships, railway & aerospace equipment dropped by 4.0% in the euro area and by 2.3% in the EU27.
These estimates are released by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities.

Monthly changes
In May 2008 compared with April 2008, new orders for chemicals & chemical products fell by 0.5% in both the euro area and the EU27. Manufacturing of basic metals & fabricated metal products decreased by 2.4% and 1.9% respectively. Electrical & electronic equipment dropped by 3.0% in the euro area and by 4.5% in the EU27. Manufacturing of machinery & equipment declined by 4.1% and 7.7% respectively. Textiles & textile products fell by 4.2% in the euro area and by 1.7% in the EU27. Transport equipment decreased by 7.0% and 8.5% respectively.
In May 2008, among the Member States for which data are available, total manufacturing working on orders rose in five, fell in thirteen and remained stable in Portugal. The highest increases were recorded in Denmark (+14.8%) and Ireland (+9.7%), and the largest decreases in Latvia (-14.2%), Hungary (-7.5%), Slovakia (-6.6%) and Italy (-6.4%).

Annual changes
In May 2008 compared with May 2007, new orders for basic metals & fabricated metal products increased by 0.9% in the euro area and by 1.6% in the EU27. Chemicals & chemical products fell by 0.9% in the euro area, but grew by 2.3% in the EU27. Manufacturing of electrical & electronic equipment dropped by 2.8% and 2.5% respectively. Machinery & equipment decreased by 6.3% in the euro area and by 3.9% in the EU27. Manufacturing of textiles & textile products declined by 8.6% and 6.4% respectively. Transport equipment fell by 10.1% in the euro area and by 7.2% in the EU27.
In May 2008, among the Member States for which data are available, total manufacturing working on orders rose in nine and fell in ten. The highest increases were registered in Denmark (+24.6%), Romania (+20.2%) and Lithuania (+17.8%), the most significant falls in Hungary (-11.4%), France (-8.9%) and the Netherlands (-7.5%).