FRANKFURT: German exports slowed markedly at the start of the second quarter, adding to a recent mixed bag of German data and concerns over global economic growth.
German exports remained unchanged in April from March in calendar- and seasonally-adjusted terms, while imports fell 0.2%, the German statistics office Destatis said on Thursday. The country’s adjusted trade surplus, however, rose to 24 billion euros ($27.31 billion) in April, its highest since records began in 1990.
The April export figure signals a slowdown from February and March when they rose at a solid pace of 1.4% and 1.9% respectively, in adjusted terms.
The current account surplus was EUR28.8 billion in April, beating economists’ forecasts of EUR22 billion in a poll by The Wall Street Journal.