That is the sharpest decline since the 2008/09 global financial crisis
I don't think this comes as much of a surprise that April economic conditions are abysmal, considering the lockdown measures in place and the fallout from the virus outbreak.
But this just paints a bit of a colour to the situation, with domestic orders seen dropping by 25% year-on-year and foreign orders also slumping by 34% year-on-year.
The market is now largely focused on the pace of the recovery from the subdued conditions in April and May, so we'll have to see how the data presents itself in the coming months to be more certain about the recovery trajectory.
