• Germany edition
Business & Money
Photo: DPA

Exports post surprise plus in August

Published: 8 Oct 12 11:56 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/money/20121008-45423.html

Germany’s export machine is outperforming analysts’ expectations, with official data released Monday showing a 2.4 percent increase in exports for August. Economists had been forecasting a drop of 0.6 percent.

Europe's biggest economy exported goods worth a total €95 billion in seasonally-adjusted terms in August, 2.4 percent more than in July, the national statistics office Destatis said.

Imports were up 0.3 percent at €76.7 billion, so that the seasonally-adjusted trade surplus grew to €18.3 billion in August from €16.3 billion in July. Growth in exports was fuelled by trade with countries outside the eurozone.

But economists say the data is not necessarily indicative of a longer-term trend in the making.

“We see this as more of a positive ‘one-off’ result,” Ulrike Kastens from private bank, Sal. Oppenheim told Financial Times Deutschland (FTD). “The trend for the coming months points more to a decrease.”

German business confidence has been flagging of late - but experts say the trade figures could have a stabilising effect on the German economy.

“The August export numbers clearly increase the likelihood of positive German growth in the third quarter after all,” Dekabank economist Andreas Scheuerle told the FTD.

Taking the eight months to August as a whole, German exports rose 5.5 percent over the year-earlier period to €734.1 billion in unadjusted terms, while imports were up 2.1 percent at €607.5 billion.

That meant the January-August trade surplus increased by 25.5 percent to €126.6 billion.

AFP/DPA/The Local/arp

What do you think? Leave your comment below.


Your comments about this article:

14:12 October 8, 2012 by Berlin fuer alles
I read in another paper.

German industrial production declined in August as the sovereign debt crisis damped euro-area economic growth and prompted companies to scale back investment.

Production fell 0.5 per cent from July, when it gained 1.2 per cent, the Economy Ministry in Berlin said today. Economists had forecast a drop of 0.6 per cent, according to the median of 39 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. From a year earlier, production fell 1.4 per cent when adjusted for working days.
18:19 October 8, 2012 by smart2012
berlin fur alles, u r right, internal demand has decreased so overall PMI is going down
19:14 October 8, 2012 by Berlin fuer alles
Can you imagine how screwed Germany would be without the Euro. Exports would also be down and the country in deep recession. The Germans should be worshiping the ground the Greeks, Portugese, Irish and Spanish walk on. These countries are paying with austerity to keep the euro afloat when they would be better off without it.
19:46 October 8, 2012 by smart2012
Berlin fur alles, educated germans know this perfectly. Germany needs euro more than Greece does. Unfortunately for Germany and Europe merkel is not a leader nor carismatic, hence she was not able to give a clear direction to people, and Bild has done the rest. An looking forward to next elections, hope nationalists will not get too much votes..
17:20 October 9, 2012 by ChrisRea
Yes, Germany exports to Greece, Portugal, Ireland and Spain are the ones that give Germans something to eat. Wait, the exports to these countries are less than 10% of Germany's exports. Actually, 41% of all exports go to non-EU countries. And the main EU countries where Germany send its exports are (in order) France, Netherlands, UK, Italy, Austria, Belgium and Poland. Oh, is it possible that PIGS countries are far less economically important as previously thought? I think the Germans should still be worshiping them.
17:28 October 9, 2012 by tedesco
@smart2012

Funny you saying about the next elections. Wasn't a few days ago she hit her highest approval since 2009? I don't get it.
14:44 October 10, 2012 by MrNosey
PIIGS contries are a pin prick and count for nothing. They are unimportant and it doesn't matter if they live in the stone age.
ADD YOUR COMMENT   (YOU MUST LOG IN OR REGISTER TO MAKE A COMMENT)
Business & Money headlines
Photo: DPA

Tax evasion 'OK for Joe Normal' say Germans

Although Germans express outrage when wealthy or famous people evade taxes, many of them do the same themselves, albeit on a smaller scale, a new survey shows. READ () »

Photo: DPA

Spain and Germany fight youth employment

Germany has agreed to provide vocational training and jobs for young Spaniards starved of opportunities in their crisis-hit home country. READ () »

Photo: DPA

Car boss asks Merkel to rethink CO2 pledge

The president of the German Automobile Association (VDA) has written to Angela Merkel, asking her to retract her pledge to significantly reduce CO2 car emissions by 2025, it was reported on Tuesday. READ () »

Photo: DPA

SAP to hire hundreds of autistic IT experts

German tech company SAP said on Tuesday it wants to hire hundreds of people with autism to work as software testers and programmers. The search has, it said, begun for people “who think differently from others.” READ () »

Photo: DPA

Economists warn against German euro exit

While a third of Germans would rather pay with the old Deutsche mark than the euro, economists warn that a German exit from the currency union would result in a disaster. READ () »

Photo: DPA

Germany cool to France's EU economy plan

Germany said Friday that French President Francois Hollande's proposal for a eurozone economic government was "interesting" but reacted coolly to his call for strengthened European budgetary powers. READ () »

Photo: DPA

Au pairs rules relax for non-German families

Foreign families will soon be able to officially engage au pairs from outside the European Union, as long as they speak German at home, as the government prepares to change the law. READ () »

Wolfgang Schäuble and his French counterpart Pierre Moscovici. Photo: DPA

Germany refuses to slam French economic policy

Germany will not publicly criticize France over economic policy, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble insisted on Thursday, amid differences between Berlin and Paris over growth versus austerity in battling the eurozone debt crisis. READ () »

Photo: DPA

Capri-Sun drink wins false advertising award

A German food industry watchdog singled out drinks-maker Capri-Sun for its annual advertising "award" on Thursday, for what the group described as "shameless" marketing of sugary drinks to children. READ () »

Photo: DPA

Anaemic economy feels winter chill

The German economy, Europe's biggest, clocked up anaemic growth at the start of 2013 as the freezing winter weather put the brakes on activity, official data showed on Wednesday. READ () »

More Business & Money

See all ads | Join the Marketplace

Jobs in Germany, in English

879 jobs available
560 new jobs this week
0 new jobs today

ALL JOBS »

Latest Business & Money news from Sweden
News from the Goethe-Institut
News from DeutschlandOnline

Toytown Germany
Germany's English-speaking crowd
Trade CFDs with InterTrader.com
Start trading shares, equities, forex, etc. No commission on equities; Low min. margins. Apply for a CFDs account now!
Little house in Spain
'Charming, old, beamed cottage for holiday let in Jesus Pobre, Alicante, Spain
www.littlehouseinspain.com/
Albatross Insurance
Professional and qualified consultancy on all insurance and finance matters in Germany, Telephone: +49 2163 571 1740, Email: bg@albatross-assurance.com
www.albatross-assurance.com
Hotel reservations in Berlin
Visiting Berlin anytime soon? Book your hotel in Berlin here.
Rental apartments in Berlin
For home-from-home holiday accommodation, search for a Berlin apartment to rent.