German industrial orders rise

Incoming orders to German industry increased again in January, official figures published Monday showed, as the government warned of economic disruption from the war in Ukraine.

Orders rose 1.8 per cent on the previous month, having climbed three per cent in December, according to seasonally adjusted figures from the federal statistics agency Destatis.

The indicator, which can give a foretaste of industrial production, was 7.3 per cent higher in January than in the same month last year.

The war in Ukraine, however, heralded  "extremely high uncertainties for the future development of demand", the German economy ministry said in a statement.

Industrial bottlenecks, aggravated by the conflict, meant it was  "uncertain" producers would be able to make up the backlog of orders which built up over the course of 2021, the ministry said.

Shortages of raw materials and components, which grew as the year wore on, hampered production in Europe's largest economy last year.

In January, domestic orders fell significantly by 8.3 per cent, while demand from within the euro area fell by 2.6 per cent.

Order growth instead came from outside the eurozone, with the incoming volume increasing by 17 per cent.