GERMAN exports fell again in July after a slight rebound in June, official data showed today, as Europe’s biggest economy battles an industrial slowdown.

Exports totalled €130.4 billion (RM655.3 billion), a fall of 0.9% compared with the previous month, according to adjusted figures from federal statistics agency Destatis.

FactSet analysts had predicted an even steeper decline of 1.5%.

Imports meanwhile were up 1.4% compared with June, totalling €114.5 billion.

The country’s adjusted trade surplus – the difference between exports and imports – fell slightly to €15.9 billion.

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

German exports have been lagging for several months as a result of supply chain difficulties, a fragile global economy and stubbornly high inflation.

German inflation dipped slightly to 6.1% last month but remained at a level three times higher than the European Central Bank’s target rate.

Energy prices remain high and some energy-intensive sectors, such as the chemicals industry, are struggling to return to production levels before the war in Ukraine.

German industry has also been weighed down by the struggling economy in China, the country’s top trading partner. 

In July, however, exports to China rose by 1.2%, after plunging by 5.9% in June.

The German economy stagnated in the second quarter of this year, after contracting in the previous two quarters.

The country’s leading economic institutes expect the economy to shrink by 0.2 to 0.4% over the whole of 2023. – AFP, September 4, 2023.