Italy’s industrial orders decline in December

According to data from Italy’s statistics office Istat, the country’s industrial orders fell for the first time in three months in December, declining 2.8% on the month following a gain of 1.5% in November. Meanwhile, on a yearly basis, industrial orders slipped 1.5% in December compared with November’s growth of 12.1%.

Lower orders were attributed to a drop in demand from the domestic market, which fell 4.8% in December. Export orders, however, edged up 0.2%.

Istat data showed that Italy’s December industrial sales were down 1.6% on a monthly basis after decreasing 1.1% in November. On a yearly basis, the country’s industrial turnover slipped 3% following a rise of 0.8% in the previous month.