German industrial orders rebound in December

After dipping in November, industrial orders increased by 3.8 percent month-on-month in December, federal statistics authority Destatis calculated in seasonal and calendar adjusted data.

Analysts had been pencilling a more modest rise of 0.7 percent.

Much of the increase was accounted for by more volatile big-ticket items, such as aircraft orders. Adjusted for those, overall orders were up by a more modest 0.8 percent, Destatis said.

And the increase was also driven primarily by foreign demand for German-made goods, with domestic orders edging only slightly higher, the data showed.

The data provided “further evidence of the strong industrial recovery” in Germany, said ING Diba bank analyst Carsten Brzeski.

“With inventories low and capacity utilisation at its highest level since 2008, industrial production should start the new year exactly as it ended the last year: on a strong footing,” the expert said.

German industrial production data are slated for release on Wednesday.