Berlin  - German key factory orders reported their eight consecutive monthly fall in July, data released Thursday showed, slumping by a bigger-than-forecast 1.7 per cent and consequently adding to signs of slackening growth in Europe's biggest economy.

Analysts had forecast that the figures, which were released by the Ministry for Economics and Technology, would show price-and-seasonally industrial orders posting a modest month-on-month rise of 0.4 per cent in July.

"The fall in orders recorded over the past months continues," said the ministry releasing the figures, adding that weak industrial production will likely continue in the coming months.

The July decline in order books followed a sharp 2.6-per-cent fall in June. The Ministry had previously estimated that industrial orders slumped by 2.9 per cent in June.

Leading the fall in the July orders data, which economists consider to be a key if volatile economic indicator, was a 3.6-per-cent drop in domestic orders. However, foreign orders rose by 0.3 per cent helped along by a 8.1-per-cent surge in foreign orders from Germany's partners in the 15-member eurozone. Orders from nations outside the eurozone dropped by 5.7 per cent. (dpa)