Germany Factory Orders Slump Most Since Lockdowns in 2020

  • July drop was worse than predicted by any economist in survey
  • German economy has been described as ‘sick man of Europe’
Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

German factory orders plummeted in July, a sign that the woes of Europe’s biggest economy continued into the third quarter.

Demand decreased by 11.7% from June, far worse than the 4.3% drop expected by economists in a Bloomberg survey. That decline — the worst since the height of the pandemic in 2020 — was due to major orders, without which the gauge would have increased by 0.3%.