German industry recorded the strongest increase in orders in around three and a half years. New business increased by 8.9 percent compared to the previous month.
Increase is due to an unusually large number of large orders in a number of industries. Domestic orders rose by 9.4 percent in December. Foreign demand increased by eight.5 percent in the same month. However, new business declined in the important areas of the automotive industry (-14.7 percent) and mechanical engineering (-5.3 percent)