08.03.201806:18:00UTC+00Germany Factory Orders Fall Most In A Year

German factory orders declined at the fastest pace in a year in January on weaker domestic as well as foreign demand.

New orders in manufacturing dropped 3.9 percent month-on-month in January, reversing a revised 3 percent rise in December, figures from Destatis revealed Thursday.

This was the biggest decline since January, when orders decreased 4.8 percent. Orders were forecast to fall moderately by 1.8 percent.

Excluding major orders, demand in manufacturing decreased 2.4 percent.

The decline is to be seen against the backdrop of the unusually strong increase in orders in the last few months of last year and may also be partly due to the usual seasonal adjustment problems around the turn of the year, Ralph Solveen, an analyst at Capital Economics, said.

For this reason, the analyst does not see any sign of a significant slowdown in growth in today's figures.

The economy ministry said the industry will continue its positive momentum.

Domestic orders fell 2.8 percent and foreign orders decreased 4.6 percent. New orders from the euro area were down 5.9 percent and that from other countries slid 3.8 percent.

On a yearly basis, factory orders advanced notably by 8.2 percent after rising revised 7.9 percent in the previous month.

Further, data showed that manufacturing turnover dropped 0.2 percent in January from December, when it was unchanged after the revision.