German exports rose in August due to strong demand, especially from the United States and the United Kingdom, official data showed on Wednesday, defying market expectations of a decline.
Exports increased by 1.3 percent in August compared to the previous month, according to data from the federal statistics office.
The result compares with a 1.0 percent drop expected in a Reuters poll.
“The second consecutive slight increase in exports is a small ray of hope, but there is no reason to agree,” said Volker Treier, head of foreign trade at the DIHK German Chamber of Commerce.
He said the export economy is still under pressure due to high energy, tax and personnel costs, but also excessive bureaucracy.
“Fundamental improvements in Germany as a place of business are urgently needed for the German export engine to recover in the long term,” Treier said.
The foreign trade surplus widened to 22.5 billion euros ($24.69 billion) in August from 16.9 billion euros in July.
“This is a strong gain in the surplus, but our estimates still suggest that the inflation-adjusted goods trade surplus is on track to decline in the third quarter due mainly to a large drop in July, weighing on GDP growth,” said Claus Vistesen, chief eurozone economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.
The rise in Germany’s trade surplus was mainly driven by a sharp drop in imports, which fell 3.4 percent on the month.
On the other hand, exports to EU countries increased by 0.8 percent month-on-month and exports to third countries increased by 1.9 percent, according to the data.
Exports of goods to the United States increased by 5.5 percent compared to July and exports to the United Kingdom increased by 5.7 percent.
Disclaimer:
The information contained in this post is for general information purposes only. We make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the post for any purpose.
We respect the intellectual property rights of content creators. If you are the owner of any material featured on our website and have concerns about its use, please contact us. We are committed to addressing any copyright issues promptly and will remove any material within 2 days of receiving a request from the rightful owner.