Germany’s industrial order backlog the highest since 1969 – Ifo

Germany’s industrial order backlog is the highest in more than 40 years and could give the economy a boost if supply bottlenecks ease, Ifo Institute said on Thursday.

There had never been such a high order backlog since Ifo started asking companies about it in 1969, Timo Wollmershaeuser, head of Ifo economic forecasts, said in a statement.

Incoming orders in the past few months often could not be processed due to shortages in preliminary and raw products, he said.

“Should the bottlenecks resolve in the coming months, production in the German industry could take off,” Wollmershaeuser said. “That should then give a strong boost to economic output.”

Ifo said order books were particularly full in the automotive industry and in mechanical engineering.