Germany Factory Orders Fall More Than Forecast

(RTTNews) - Germany's factory orders declined more than expected in April as frontloading effects diminished, data from Destatis revealed Monday.

Factory orders logged a monthly fall of 3.8 percent in April, in contrast to the revised 4.5 percent increase in March and 1.6 percent rise in February.

This was the first decline since January, when orders were down 11.5 percent. Economists had forecast a drop of 2.2 percent.

On a yearly basis, orders grew 1.6 percent but slower than the 6.1 percent growth posted in March.

Data showed a significant decline of 5.3 percent in new orders in the automotive industry followed by a 16.3 percent fall in the manufacture of electrical equipment. New orders for capital goods dropped 2.9 percent and intermediate goods orders slid 4.4 percent. Orders for consumer goods posted a notable 6.7 percent decrease.

Foreign orders decreased 4.2 percent from the previous month. Orders from the euro area plunged 11.1 percent, while that from non-euro area economies grew 0.8 percent. Domestic orders registered a 2.9 percent decline.

Elsewhere, survey results from the behavioural institute Sentix showed that German economy continued to lag behind the global recovery. The Sentix investor confidence index climbed to -28.5 in June from -30.9 in the prior month.

The German economy remains the problem child among the major economic regions and has so far been able to benefit only to a limited extent from the international upturn," Sentix said.

The current situation index weakened to the lowest level since February 2025. The index posted -42.5 compared to -42.3 in May. On the other hand, the expectations indicator rose to -13.3 from -18.8, the survey showed.