BERLIN (Reuters) – Orders for German-made goods fell 1.4% in February from a revised 4.8% increase the month before, as a sharp fall in orders from abroad hinted at the likely impact of the coronavirus on the exporting powerhouse’s economic prospects.
The latest figures relate to the period before lockdown measures began to affect the German economy in earnest: domestic orders were still climbing, up 1.7%, while orders from abroad shrank by 3.6%. Countries like China and Italy were already being hard hit by then.
Contracts from the euro zone were down 5%, while those from the rest of the world were down 2.7%. The overall fall was less than the 2.4% drop expected by analysts polled for Reuters.
China is Germany’s biggest trading partner. Manufacturers depend on both demand and supply chains from China.
(Reporting by Thomas Escritt; Editing by Michelle Martin)
