New orders in manufacturing industry decrease by 14.9% in first five months of 2020

New orders in the manufacturing industry decreased by 14.9% in the first five months of the year compared to the same period last year, according to data published on Tuesday by the National Institute of Statistics (INS).

According to official data, between January 1 and May 31, 2020, the low number of new orders in the manufacturing industry was due to the activities registered in the capital goods industry (-18%), the current goods industry (-12.7%) and the intermediate goods industry (-11.2%).

At the same time, the durable goods industry grew by 9% in the first five months of this year, compared to the same period in 2019.

The INS states that the information in the press release (May 2020) takes into account the impact of the COVID-19 crisis and of the measures taken by the authorities as a result of the decree of the state of emergency on the Romanian territory starting with March 16, 2020 and of the state of alert starting with May 17, 2020.