GERMAN exports rebounded in January after sharp declines in recent months, data showed today, with shipments to all major trading partners rising in a boost for Europe’s top economy. 

Germany exported goods worth €130.6 billion (RM620.7 billion), a 2.1% increase on the previous month, according to seasonally adjusted figures from federal statistics agency Destatis.

Compared with January last year, exports were up 8.6%.

But ING economist Carsten Brzeski cautioned that the increase was “not quite enough to offset” a sharp drop in shipments from the export-driven economy in December.

“In the very near term, the ongoing weakening of export order books, the expected slowdown of the US economy, high inflation and high uncertainty will leave a clear mark on German exports,” he said.

In January, exports to the United States rose 3.1% and those to China, Germany’s biggest trading partner, were up 1.4% to China, Destatis said. 

Shipments to European Union countries increased by 0.7%. 

Exports to Russia, which has been hit with a barrage of Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine, climbed 12.3% in January on the previous month, though their value remains relatively small. 

Imports into Germany fell 3.4% in January compared to the previous month, to €113.9 billion, notably due to a 6% decrease from China.

The German economy has been hammered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Moscow’s subsequent move to curb crucial gas exports, a source of cheap energy that German manufacturers had long relied on. 

But a raft of government relief measures and efforts to diversify energy supplies have helped blunt the crisis, and many economists now expect any recession this year to be short and shallow. 

The government predicts economic growth of 0.2% for the whole of this year. – AFP, March 3, 2023.