German industrial orders slumped for the sixth consecutive month in July, official data showed Tuesday, raising the prospect of a recession in Europe's largest economy.

New orders dipped by 1.1 percent from a month prior, the federal statistics agency Destatis said in a statement.

The contraction was at 13.6 percent compared to a year ago, when orders were at a particularly strong level.

Germany's export-oriented industry has been hammered by the impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which has exacerbated supply chain woes and sent energy prices soaring. 

"Shrinking order books add to current recession fears. With surging energy prices and fading new orders, the outlook for the German industry is anything but rosy," said ING economist Carsten Brzeski. 

Demand shrank both domestically and in Europe, with German orders slumping 4.5 percent and those from the eurozone dropping 6.4 percent in July.

Outside the eurozone, orders were up 6.5 percent.

The German economy barely posted growth for the three months ending June, with GDP expanding just 0.1 percent. 

(Source: AFP with edits)