Berlin  - German factory orders slumped more than expected in April, the Ministry of Economics and Technology said Thursday, dragged down by sharply falling demand from the nation's key European partners.

After sliding by 0.5 per cent in March, German industrial orders fell by a price-and-seasonally adjusted 1.8 per cent in April, adding to expectations that growth in Europe's biggest economy should slow as the year unfolds.

Economists had predicted the data, which is considered to be a key if volatile economic indicator, to clock up a modest 0.5 per cent rise in April.

But while domestic order books grew by 0.3 per cen in April, foreign orders sunk 3.8 per cent principally as a result of falling demand from Germany's partners in the
15-member eurozone.

Month-on-month eurozone orders dropped 5.6 per cent in April with orders from other parts of the world sliding by 2.3 per cent. (dpa)