Euro zone industrial orders rose 1.7 per cent in May from April and were up 9.1 per cent year-on-year, EU statistics office Eurostat said.
Economists polled by Thomson Financial News had forecast a rise of 1.5 per cent from April and a year-on-year increase of 8 per cent.
Eurostat revised its April figures to a month-on-month fall of 0.6 per cent from its earlier estimate of a 0.4 per cent decrease and to a year-on-year jump of 11.8 from 12.2 per cent.
Excluding the volatile ships, railway and aerospace equipment sector, industrial orders rose 1.3 per cent in May from April, and were up 5.5 per cent year-on-year.
