Germany, the world's No. 2 exporter after China, exported
goods and services worth 86.5 billion euros ($115 billion) in June, the Federal
Statistical Office said.
That was a 28.5 percent increase compared with June 2009
and the highest level since October 2008, when exports totaled 88.7 billion
euros, the office said.
Imports rose 1.9 percent on the month to 72.4 billion
euros - a 31.7 percent increase on the year and the highest level reported
since West Germany started compiling statistics in 1950.
The ongoing export growth is "a very encouraging
sign," Economy Minister Rainer Bruederle said. "At the same time, the
dynamic growth of imports shows that ... the process of economic recovery is
gaining in width and solidity." The German economy, Europe's biggest, has
settled back into growth over the past year as an improving global economy, and
strong demand from emerging economies such as China, has boosted its exports -
its traditional strength.
Second-quarter gross domestic product figures are due on
Friday, and they "should be a cracker," said Carsten Brzeski, an
economist at ING in Brussels.
Exports are the main driver, while "industrial
production has shown an impressive performance and even private consumption
seems to have stabilized," he added.
The June foreign trade figures were less spectacular than
May's, when exports rose 7.9 percent on the month and imports surged 13.7
percent, but that followed declines in April.
Exports "will eventually slow down," Brzeski
said. But strong demand, particularly from Asia, and a weaker euro this year
mean that "German manufacturers are looking into a bright near-term
future," he added.
Further improvements in manufacturing "should once
again stabilize the labor market" at a time when many people already are
returning to full-time work, he added.
The euro sank to a four-year low in early June on fears
about the euro zone's debt crisis, making European exporters' goods more
competitive abroad. The euro has since recovered, but remains well short of the
levels it reached late last year.
Germany's foreign trade surplus rose to 14.1 billion
euros in June - up from 9.8 billion euros in May and 12.3 billion euros a year
earlier, the statistical office said.
June exports to other countries in the European Union
were up 23.5 percent from a year earlier to 52.6 billion euros, with 35.7
billion euros of that going to Germany's partners in the 16-nation euro zone -
a 22 percent increase.
Exports to other countries were up an even stronger 37.3
percent to 33.8 billion euros.
For the whole of the year's first half, German exports
totaled 458.4 billion euros - an 18.2 percent rise compared with January-June
2009. Imports increased 16.8 percent to 383.8 billion euros.
Germany's Chambers of Industry and Commerce forecast that
exports will grow by at least 11 percent this year and another 8 percent in
2011, while imports should increase by about 10 percent in both years.
Despite the expected growth, Germany won't regain the
crown of leading global exporter that it lost to China last year, said the
group's chief economist, Axel Nitzschke.
China is on course to increase its lead, and also to
overtake the Netherlands this year as the biggest exporter of goods to Germany,
Nitzschke said.