Eurozone new industrial orders plunged by 4.7 percent in October, compared with the previous month, the European Union (EU)'s statistics bureau Eurostat said Monday.

The index dropped by 15.1 percent against the same month a year ago, the largest year-on-year fall on record.

The sharp decline in eurozone new industrial orders beat expectations of economists, who had forecast a fall of 4.0 percent month on month and of 10.7 percent year on year.

Excluding ships, railway and aerospace equipment, for which changes tend to be more volatile, industrial new orders fell by 3.8 percent over the previous month in the eurozone in October and by 14.0 percent over the same month a year ago.

In October, new orders for transport equipment recorded the largest monthly drop of 9.4 percent, reflecting the sales woes experienced by European car makers.

Orders for machinery and equipment dropped by 6.5 percent, while those for basic metals and fabricated metal products declined by 5.8 percent.

The index fell by 5.4 percent over the previous month and by 1.9 percent over the same month last year in September, according to revised figures from Eurostat.

In the 27-nation EU, industrial new orders dropped by 6.3 percent month on month and by 17.9 percent compared with the same period of 2007.

Among the member states for which data were available, the highest monthly decrease was recorded in Latvia, down by 20.2 percent. The index in Germany, the biggest economy within the EU, fell by 6.8 percent.

(Xinhua News Agency December 23, 2008)