German industrial orders fall sixth month in a row as Ukraine war bites

Staff wear protective masks at the Volkswagen assembly line in Wolfsburg, Germany. Swen Pfoertner/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

BERLIN – German industrial orders fell for the sixth month in a row in July as the war in Ukraine continues to take its toll on Europe’s largest economy, the economy ministry said on Tuesday.

Orders for industrial goods were down 1.1 percent on the month in seasonally adjusted terms, figures from the federal statistical office showed. Compared with July 2021, orders were down 13.6 percent.

In a Reuters poll, analysts had predicted a 0.5 percent decline in July after orders fell by an upwardly revised 0.3 percent in June.

A cooling global economy, materials shortages and rising prices are currently causing problems for industry.

“The development of demand in the manufacturing sector continued to be weak at the beginning of the third quarter in view of the war and high gas prices,” said the economy ministry, which said the outlook for the second half remains subdued.

Domestic orders in particular fell 4.5 percent in July while orders from abroad grew by 1.3 percentm according to the statistics office.

“The fact that the minus comes exclusively from the domestic market is fitting; after all Germany is facing an energy crisis,” said Commerzbank chief economist Joerg Kraemer.