Germany's trade surplus falls sharply in March

By Aysu Bicer

ANKARA (AA) - The trade surplus in Germany went down sharply to €9.7 billion ($10.2 billion) in March from €20.7 billion ($21.7 billion) a year earlier, as exports to China, the UK and Russia fell and imports kept increasing at a double-digit pace, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) said on Wednesday.

Exports were up 8.1% year-on-year to €137.4 billion, while imports jumped 20.1% to €127.7 billion, it said.

Meanwhile, on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis, exports narrowed 3.3% compared with February, with sales to Russia dropping 62.3% to €0.9 billion due to sanctions imposed. "Imports from Russia also went down by 2.4% to €3.6 billion in the same period," Destatis said.

Shipments to the EU went down 1.7%, sales to countries outside the EU decreased 5.1%, namely to China (4.3%) and the UK (3.9%), while those to the US rose 3.2%.

Imports, however, rose 3.4% on the previous month, backed by purchases from China (15.8%), the US (6.3%) and the UK (40.8%) while imports from both the EU and Russia declined 3% and 3.4%, respectively.