German exports fall more than expected in September

A crane lifts a shipping container at the HHLA Container Terminal Altenwerder on the River Elbe in Hamburg, Germany, March 31, 2023. REUTERS/Phil Noble/File Photo

BERLIN  -German exports fell more than expected on the month in September, federal statistics office data showed on Friday, as weak global demand hurt exports.

German exports fell 2.4 percent in September from the previous month. The result compared with a forecast 1.1 percent decline in a LSEG poll.

“Trade is no longer the strong resilient growth driver of the German economy that it used to be, but rather a drag,” said Carsten Brzeski, global head of macro at ING.

He said that since the start of 2022, net exports have been a drag on the economy in four out of six quarters.

Supply chain frictions, a more fragmented global economy and China moving from a dynamic export destination to competitor are all factors weighing on the German export sector, Brzeski said.

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Exports to European Union countries fell 2.1 percent on the month and exports to countries outside the EU fell 2.8 percent, with sharp declines in exports to the U.S. and China.

The statistics office upwardly revised the data of the previous month to a 0.1 percent increase in exports on the month, instead of a 1.2 percent decline.

Imports also unexpectedly fell by 1.7 percent on the month in September, the data showed. They had been forecast to increase by 0.5 percent.

The foreign trade balance showed a surplus of 16.5 billion euros ($17.54 billion) in September, versus an upwardly revised surplus of 17.7 billion euros the previous month.