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German Exports Fall More Than Expected
(RTTNews) - Germany's exports registered a renewed sharper-than-expected decline in March on weak demand from China and the US, official data showed on Thursday.
Exports decreased 5.2 percent on a monthly basis in March, offsetting the 4.0 percent increase in February, Destatis reported. Exports were forecast to drop moderately by 2.4 percent.
Similarly, imports slid 6.4 percent after a 4.4 percent gain in the preceding month. The decline was also larger than economists' forecast of 1.7 percent drop.
The trade surplus increased to seasonally adjusted EUR 16.7 billion from EUR 16.0 billion in the previous month. In the same period last year, the surplus totaled EUR 4.0 billion.
On a yearly basis, exports posted an increase of 5.0 percent but slower than the 6.4 percent increase in February. Meanwhile, imports slid 5.4 percent annually after a 2.7 percent gain.
As a result, the unadjusted trade surplus came in at EUR 23.3 billion, which was much bigger than a EUR 9.2 billion surplus logged in the previous year.
Most German exports were destined for the United States in March, but goods exports were down 10.9 percent on February.
Exports to China decreased 9.3 percent, while shipments to the United Kingdom grew 1.5 percent.
Most imports came from China in March. Nonetheless, imports decreased 7.2 percent. Imports from the United States grew 1.4 percent and that from the UK dropped 4.0 percent.
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