BERLIN (Reuters) – German industrial orders rose significantly more than expected in December due to substantial growth in large-scale orders such as aircraft, ships, trains and military vehicles, the federal statistics office said on Thursday.
Orders increased by 6.9% on the previous month on a seasonally and calendar adjusted basis, the office said.
A Reuters poll of analysts had pointed to a rise of 2.0%.
Orders had unexpectedly fallen in November to a slightly upwardly revised 5.2% compared with the month before.
The positive development was due primarily to several large-scale orders in the manufacture of vehicles and vessels outside of the car industry, where new orders were up 55.5% compared with the month before.
Excluding large-scale orders, the overall rise was 2.2%.
“Large orders continue to distort the monthly picture,” said LBBW economist Jens-Oliver Niklasch.
“The real test for German industry will now come with the start of the expected trade conflict with the U.S. We therefore remain on the side of the economic sceptics,” he added.
The less-volatile three-month on three-month comparison showed that new orders remained unchanged in the final quarter of 2024.
(Reporting by Miranda Murray; Editing by Ludwig Burger)
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