German Industry Enjoys Surge in Non-Euro Zone Exports

Industrial orders in Germany have reached their highest growth in two years largely thanks to a growing demand for German-made goods outside the euro area, new data showed on Thursday.

The German economy ministry said in a statement that industrial orders jumped by 3.9% in October from September, following a 2.4-percent drop the previous month.

Analysts polled by Dow Jones had been pencilling in a much more modest increase of 1.0%.

The increase - the biggest since January 2011 - was primarily due to a 6.7-percent rise in export orders, with orders from outside the eurozone soaring 8.5%, the ministry explained. Domestic orders in contrast edged up by 0.4%.

The rise in demand was seen across all sectors, with orders for semi-finished goods up 3.4%, orders for consumer goods rising 2.1% and capital goods orders advancing by 3.4%, the data showed.

Taking September and October together, industrial orders slipped by 0.9%, the ministry calculated.