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Brisk German trade

July 9, 2012

German exports and imports have seen huge gains despite a protracted recession in much of the eurozone area. Fresh statistical data indicate that the German economy will continue to thrive on increasing domestic demand.

https://p.dw.com/p/15Tsr
Containers at the port of Hamburg, Germany
Image: picture-alliance/dpa

Trade activities in Germany picked up considerably in May, the National Statistics Office (Destatis) reported on Monday. The volume of both incoming and outgoing goods and commodities surged way beyond analysts' expectations.

Exports rose by 3.9 percent in May month-on-month, totaling 93.5 billion euros $114.75 billion). Imports even soared by 6.3 percent to 78.5 billion euros, Destatis said.

"Germany's economy showed some strength in May," Natixis Economist Constantin Wirschke told AFP news agency. "Nonetheless, we do expect the economic situation to remain volatile and remain cautious after weak data in April."

Unwavering consumer confidence

Because of strong import volumes, the national trade surplus narrowed to 15 billion euros in May from 16.2 billion euros in the previous month.

But the bloc's debt difficulties are taking their toll, with German exports to the other 16 eurozone countries down by 2.3 percent, while exports to countries outside Europe rose by 3.4 percent

Over the five months from January to May, German exports were up 4.2 percent overall, but exports to the eurozone decreased by 0.6 percent.

Analysts maintain that eurozone trade deficits can largely be compensated by strong domestic consumer confidence. "The increase of imports in May shows that domestic consumption remains strong," Stefan Schilbe of HSBC Trinkaus confirmed.

hg/tj (Reuters, AFP, dpa, dapd)