Euro zone industrial orders fell 1.5 per cent in May from April and were down 3.3 per cent year-on-year, EU statistics office Eurostat said.
Economists had forecast a rise of 1.3 per cent from April and a year-on-year fall of 1 per cent.
Eurostat revised the month-on-month rise in April to 1.6 per cent from an initial 1.5 per cent.