In a Wednesday statement which underscores the suggestion that business in Germany has started picking up of late, the Federal Ministry of Economics and technology recently revealed that that the country's industrial orders witnessed an increase in December 2012; thanks largely to the fact that the demand from the Euro area had increased notably.

According to the statistics released by the Ministry, factory orders in Germany - Europe's biggest economy - increased a seasonally adjusted 0.8 percent in December, vis-a-vis the November figures. In November, the industrial orders had recorded a 1.8 percent plunge.

The Ministry's statistics further showed that while there was a 1.2 percent drop in industrial orders from within Germany in December, overseas orders rose by 2.4 percent. Importantly, orders from the other 16 Euro zone countries increased 7 percent during the month, even though some of the countries are in recession. Meanwhile, orders from the non-Euro zone countries fell 0.4 percent.

With the 0.8 percent increase in German industrial orders in December marking a growth rate which was broadly in line with the economists' estimates of a 0.7 percent growth rate during the month, ING economist Carsten Brzeski said that the statistics for the month of December clearly show that the German industry has "reached a turning point."

Brzeski further added that although there has been no change in the "inventory reduction" situation in the country, "order books have started to fill again."