Germany Factory Orders

Factory orders in Germany declined by 1.5% mom in October 2024, compared to market forecasts of a 2.0% fall, following an upwardly revised 7.2% surge in the previous month which was the strongest growth since December. Orders for machinery and equipment saw the largest drop (-7.6%), followed by the automotive industry (-3.7%). On the other hand, demand increased for basic metals (10.2%) and computer, electronic and optical products (8.0%). New orders rose for both intermediate goods (0.9%) and consumer goods (4.2%), but fell for capital goods (-3.6%). Notably, domestic orders shrank by 5.3%. Meanwhile, foreign orders increased by 0.8%, largely driven by higher demand from outside the Eurozone (6.3%) while orders from the Eurozone plunged (-7.6%). Excluding large orders, incoming orders edged up 0.1% from September. In a three-month comparison, new orders were 2.7% higher in the period from August to October compared to the preceding three months.