German exports pick up

In November 2013, Germany exported goods worth 94.6 billion euros ($128.9 billion), with imports totaling 76.5 billion euros, the National Statistics Office (Destatis) reported Wednesday.

The figures meant German shipments meant rose for the fourth consecutive month, marking a 1-percent increase over levels recorded in the same month a year earlier and a 0.3-percent rise month-on-month.

With the trade surplus reaching 18.1 billion euros in November, Europe's biggest economy looked likely to remain in the firing line for not doing enough to whittle down imbalances.

Positive outlook

A look at the first 11 months of 2013 revealed, though, that exports dipped by 0.5 percent to little over a trillion euros, compared to the same period in the previous year. Final December figures were not yet available.

The November data indicated a pick-up in economic activity within the 28-member European Union, with German goods in high demand particularly in EU nations not belonging to the euro area.

The German Federation of Wholesale, Foreign Trade and Services (BGA) expected the country's exports to rise by 3 percent throughout the current year as the global economy gained traction.

hg/msh (dpa, Reuters, AFP)