Analysts had forecast that orders for German industrial goods would shrink 1.2%. According to data published by the Statistics Office on Thursday, orders were up even compared to pre-pandemic times at 6.3% above last November's level.
The numbers come two days after November retail sales also surprised on the upside, while jobless numbers also fell unexpectedly in December.
All three sets of data stemmed from before the renewed lockdown the German government imposed in December in response to spiralling coronavirus case numbers.
(Reporting by Thomas Escritt; editing by Thomas Seythal)
