A duplex ferritic austenitic stainless steel having high formability utilizing the TRIP effect and high corrosion resistance with the balanced pitting resistance equivalent is formed with less than 0.04 weight % carbon, 0.2-0.8 weight % silicon, less than 2.0 weight % manganese, 16.5-19.5 weight % chromium, 3.0-4.7 weight % nickel, 1.5-4.0 weight % molybdenum, less than 3.5 weight % tungsten, less than 1 weight % copper, 0.13-0.26 weight % nitrogen, the rest being iron and inevitable impurities occurring in stainless steels.