German industrial orders rise sharply in June

German industrial orders surged in June as Europe’s largest economy began to ease from the effects of the months-long lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, volumes were still below levels as they were before the pandemic, data from the Statistics Office showed.

Orders surged to an adjusted 27.9% compared to May, which was more than double the 10.4% expansion recorded in the previous month. However, orders were still down by 11.3% to the levels recorded on February, which was considered as the last pre-crisis month.

Domestic orders grew 35.3%, outpacing orders from abroad which have expanded by 22% only. The recovery in automotive orders was the strongest, seeing orders rise by 66.5%. Though this is still 12.2% short of February’s level.