Germany is one of the world’s leading exporting nations; the third in the world behind China and the USA. Consequently, its export figures are studied with close attention as a barometer of demand in the wider world and as an index of the health of the EU’s powerhouse economy.
Data for German exports shows that they have increased for the third straight month, providing yet another mixed indicator for this strange economic year of 2012 – Germany is still officially in recession, after all. The figures for March show an increase of 0.9% following on from a 1.5% gain in February. The value of German exports has now risen to €98.9 billion.
According to a detailed analysis of the figures, German exports outside of the EU rose by 6.1% year-on-year. The figures give Germany a seasonally adjusted trade surplus of €13.7 billion which was unchanged from the previous month (meaning imports also went up).
According to Ulrike Rondorf of Germany’s Commerzbank “"The German economy is profiting from the revival of world trade" Whilst that may be a tad optimistic given the political turmoil in Greece, the changing of the guard in France and some lacklustre data out of the States, it is still welcome news with which to end the week.
Within the Eurozone itself, German exports declined by 3.6% and German imports were indeed up by 1.2% over the month, according to data from the German Federal Statistics Office.