Germany’s exports hit record in March

FRANKFURT - Agence France-Presse

An employee works at the axle gear production line of the German carmaker BMW plant in Dingolfing, southern Germany. Car sales support German exports strongly. AFP photo

German exports grew to a record level in March, boosting a trade surplus by 16.8 percent from the February level on strong demand from outside the European Union, official data showed yesterday.

Germany’s trade surplus grew to 17.4 billion euros in March, the figures showed, but exports to the eurozone fell on a 12-month basis.

Eurozone trade shrinks
The German economy, the biggest in Europe, exported goods worth 98.9 billion euros ($128 billion) in March, up 8.4 percent from the figure for February and beating the previous record from March 2011, the national statistics office Destatis said.

On a 12-month basis, exports to countries outside the European Union grew by 6.1 percent to 41.9 billion euros while exports to countries in the crisis-hit eurozone contracted by 3.6 percent to 38.1 billion euros.
Imports overall were up 68 percent at 81.5 billion euros, the office said with imports from the eurozone up 2.3 percent to 37 billion euros.

On May 8, official data showed German industrial output rose sharply in March driven by a strong showing in construction after cold winter weather hit production in February.

Industrial production increased by 2.8 percent from February providing a sunnier outlook for output in the coming months.