German Factory Orders Surge Most Since December Despite Iran War

German factory orders jumped far more than expected in March even as the the Iran war began sending energy costs surging.

Demand increased 5% from a month earlier, following an upwardly revised 1.4% gain in February, the statistics office said Thursday. That’s the most since December 2025 and much more than the 1% median estimate in a Bloomberg survey.

Stripping out large-scale orders, the gauge rose by 5.1% — the highest since February 2023. The biggest drivers were electrical equipment, machinery, and computer and electronic products.

A less volatile reading for the first quarter as a whole nevertheless showed ...