Germany’s factory orders rose 2.5% month-on-month in July 2026, slowing from an upwardly revised 3.7% increase in June but clearly beating market expectations of a 0.3% gain. This marked the third consecutive monthly rise, largely driven by a surge in major contracts in shipbuilding, rail vehicle construction, and aircraft manufacturing (up 126.4%). In contrast, orders in the automotive sector fell by 12.5%.
By category, orders for capital goods increased 2.4% and intermediate goods 4.3%, while consumer goods orders declined 4.8%. Domestic demand was particularly strong, jumping 9.1%, whereas foreign orders decreased 2.1%, weighed down by a 10.1% drop in demand from non-euro area countries, which more than offset a robust 12.1% increase in orders from the euro area.
Excluding large-scale contracts, overall orders were 1.4% lower. On a less volatile three-month moving basis, total demand in the May–July period was 2.9% higher than in the previous three months, but slipped 2.2% when large orders were stripped out.
