German exports slide unexpectedly in August

• Source: xinhua
• [08:27 October 10 2009]
• Comments

German exports slid unexpectedly in August, according to the provisional data released by German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on Friday.

Germany exported commodities to the value of 60.4 billion euros(about 89 billion US dollars) and imported commodities to the value of 52.2 billion euros in August 2009, said Destatis. Exports decreased by 1.8 percent on July 2009 and imports increased by 1.1percent, when adjusted for calendar and seasonal variations.

This is the first time in four months that German exports fell, according to the local media reports. The previous expectations of local media are that exports increased 1. 7 percent and imports rose 0.9 percent.

On an annual basis, German exports decreased by 20.0 percent and imports by 19.3 percent in August 2009 against August 2008, said Destatis. The surplus had amounted to 10.6 billion euros on calendar and seasonal adjustment, lower than a surplus of 10.8 billion euros in August 2008. (1 US dollar = 0.6787 euros)