In December, Germany experienced a steeper drop than anticipated in both imports and exports, according to data from Destatis. Export rates fell by 4.6% for the month, defying expectations of a decrease of only 2%, and marking a dramatic shift from November's increase of 3.5%.
Import rates also stumbled, decreasing by 6.7% and overturning November's gain of 1.5%. This figure far exceeded economists' moderate forecast for a 1.8% reduction.
However, due to the fall in imports being greater than that of the exports, Germany's trade surplus swelled from EUR 20.8 billion to EUR 22.2 billion. This contrasts with predictions that the surplus would shrink to EUR 19.8 billion.
Year on year comparisons reveal that export rates declined by an even larger 10.7%, growing from November's 4.8% reduction. Imports showed a similar trend, decreasing by a significant 16.2% after a 12.4% reduction in the previous month.
Destatis also reported that the non-seasonally adjusted foreign trade balance showed a surplus of EUR 16.6 billion in December, compared to a surplus of EUR 11.6 billion during the same period the previous year.
