Germany sees welcome jump in exports for January

German companies saw a 6.3% increase in the value of goods exported in January compared to the previous month, the country's Federal Statistical Office Destatis said on Wednesday.

The jump in trade provided a rare piece of good news for Germany's economy, which has stumbled between stagnation and recession in recent quarters.

How the figures break down

The value of exported goods rose to €135.6 billion ($147.3 billion) in the first month of the year, meaning there was also a year-on-year increase of 0.3% compared with January 2023.

Exports to China grew by 7.8% to €8.1 billion, while those to the United States — still the largest export market — fell by 1.7% to a value of €12.5 billion.

Goods worth €75.8 billion were exported to the member states of the European Union and goods worth €61.2 billion were imported from across the bloc.

Compared to December 2023, calendar and seasonally adjusted exports to EU countries increased by 8.9% while imports increased by 10.8%.

Exports to the United Kingdom fell by 8.1% to €6.8 billion while imports from there increased by 18.4% to €3.1 billion during the same period.

How have German exports been faring?

Last year, exports fell by a total of 1.4% compared to the previous year. Experts attributed this to low demand from abroad because of high inflation rates and presumed geopolitical risks.

This lower global demand from markets such as China — increasingly making products it would have once imported — have been among the obstacles to recovery.

Germany's large industrial sector has also been particularly damaged by the loss of cheap Russian gas imports. Meanwhile, a string of interest rate rises by the European Central Bank — seeking to bring inflation into line — has stifled investment.

High inflation and reduced purchasing power, leading to lower domestic demand, have also proved to be a hurdle.

The German Cabinet last month slashed its growth forecast to 0.2% for this year — well below a previous forecast of 1.3%.

Edited by: Alex Berry

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