S&P Global Germany Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI)

The Purchasing Managers' Index® (PMI®) is based on monthly surveys of carefully selected companies representing large and developing economies worldwide.

The PMI of the manufacturers and the manufacturing industry (IHS Markit / BME Germany Manufacturing PMI®) is collected by IHS Markit on a monthly basis by means of a questionnaire, which is answered by purchasing managers or managing directors of approximately 400 different companies in the manufacturing sector, broken down by detailed number of industry and company employees and based on contributions to GDP.

The key figure is the Purchasing Managers' Index® (PMI). The PMI is a weighted average of the following five indices: new orders (30%), production (25%), employment (20%), supplier delivery times (15%) and stocks (10%). For the PMI calculation, the suppliers' delivery time index is inverted so that it moves in a comparable direction to the other indices.

The indices are seasonally adjusted. The original data are not subject to revision after their first publication. Seasonally adjusted data, on the other hand, can be revised if necessary due to updated seasonal adjustment factors.

The survey takes place in the second half of the month. The survey asks about the change compared to the previous month. From this, a diffusion index is calculated for each variable. This results from the sum of the percentage of firms reporting an improvement and half the percentage of those reporting no change in the situation. These indices vary between 0 and 100, with a value of 50.0 representing no change from the previous month. Values above 50.0 indicate improvement or growth, values below 50.0 indicate deterioration or decline. The greater the deviation from 50.0, the higher the change from the previous month.

The index is compiled to provide a general overview of the economic situation in the manufacturing sector. It is an early indicator for the economy as a whole. The growth of the manufacturers' PMI is an indication of favourable market conditions and can be seen as positive for the euro.