According to the statistics released by France's National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE), in December 2009 France's new industrial orders received increased by 14.9 percent month on month. In November, industrial orders had increased by 0.6 percent as compared to October.
In the month in question, export orders also significantly increased as compared to the previous month, at a rate of 19.5 percent.
Meanwhile, in the given month, industrial orders in the metallurgical industry decreased by 1.7 percent while industrial orders in the manufacture of metal products except machinery dropped by 0.2 percent, both compared to November 2009.
In December last year, industrial orders in France's automotive industry climbed 65.6 percent as compared to the previous month. Thus, the French automotive sector acted as a driving force in the country's monthly increase of industrial orders.