German Industrial Orders Rise Significantly in December

BERLIN (Reuters) – German industrial orders rose significantly more than expected in December, with substantial growth in large-scale orders such as aircraft, ships, trains, and military vehicles, according to the federal statistics office on Thursday.

Orders increased by 6.9% on a previous month basis when seasonally and calendar adjusted, the office reported. A Reuters poll had anticipated a rise of 2.0%.

November had seen a slight downward revision with orders unexpectedly falling to 5.2% compared to the previous month.

This positive trend was mainly attributed to several large-scale orders in the manufacturing of vehicles and vessels outside the car industry, which saw new orders rise by 55.5% compared to 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.

He added, “The real test for German industry will now come with the expected trade conflict with the U.S. We therefore remain on the side of the economic sceptics.”

The less-volatile three-month on three-month comparison indicated that new orders remained unchanged in the final quarter of 2024.