Berlin - European factory orders dropped sharply in June, the European Statistics Office Eurostat said Friday, adding to signs of slowing economic growth.

Year-on-year, new industrial orders fell by 7.4 per cent in the 15-member eurozone in June. Analysts had forecast a 6.1-per-cent fall.

While industrial orders in 15-member eurozone dropped month on month by 0.3 per cent in June, factory orders in the broader 27- member European Union eased by 0.1 per cent compared to May. Year on year orders fell by 6.6 per cent in the EU.

However, the June monthly fall in eurozone factory orders was far less than the 1.1-per-cent decline which economists had been expecting.

The month-on-month June falls followed a sharp 5.4 per cent drop in both the eurozone and the EU in May.

Europe's biggest economies clocked up the largest falls with industrial orders in France dropping by 16.9 per cent, 6.5 per cent in Spain and 6 per cent in Germany.

The EU's Central European member states continued to report the highest increases with industrial orders surging by 27.8 per cent in Romania, 26.9 per cent in Latvia, and 22.9 per cent in Lithuania. (dpa)