German industrial orders fell unexpectedly in July on weak domestic demand while bookings from abroad remained flat, data showed on Wednesday.
Factories registered a 0.7 per cent drop in orders after contracts for ‘Made in Germany’ goods rose by a downwardly revised 0.9 per cent in June, data from the Economy Ministry showed.
The reading for July undershot the Reuters forecast for a 0.3 per cent rise.
A data breakdown showed domestic demand of the Europe’s largest economic country fell by 1.6 per cent while foreign orders were unchanged.
Excluding volatile bulk orders, orders rose by 0.6 per cent in July, the ministry said. “Order activity remains on a very high level,” it said.
“In the past three months, German companies have registered nearly as many orders as they did before the outbreak of the economic and financial crisis in 2008.”
Orders and sentiment indicators were pointing to a continuation of the solid upswing in the sector, the ministry added.
