Turnover in the processing industry is decreasing. As was reported by the Federal Statistical Office, even though turnover increased in April this year as compared to April last year by 4.7% in real terms (following +4.1% in March), turnover in real terms after adjustments for season and calendar for the period between March 2008 and April 2008 fell by 0.8%.
Turnover generated within Germany increased by 3.2% in the period between April 2007 and April 2008, while that with buyers from abroad was up by 6.6%. Turnover generated in the business with countries of the Eurozone grew by 6.4% and that generated by doing business with the rest of the world by 6.9%.
Among the most important economic sectors turnover grew most in mechanical engineering reaching a growth rate of 11.4%, followed by the metal processing industry with a plus of 10.1%. In the food industry sales dropped by 4.3%.
Compared with March 2008 turnover fell by 1.5% with regard to German purchasers in April this year and by 0.1% in the business with foreign clients. Sales generated in the business with the Eurozone grew by 1.3% while that with all the other countries decreased by 1.3%.
The cumulated turnover generated in the period from January to April 2008 was 5.4% higher than in the same period in 2007 with domestic sales growing by 4.4% and those generated abroad by 6.6%.
For the time being all these figures are still provisional. 