German exports rose for the fourth time in five months in September, yet their contribution to growth in the third quarter is likely to be slight due to a surge in imports, official data showed today.
Adjusted for seasonal swings, imports rose by 5.8 per cent on the month to €58.4 billion, the Federal Statistics Office said. Exports were up by 3.8 per cent to €68.3 billion. The imports rise was the biggest since July last year.
The figures shrank the adjusted trade surplus to €9.9 billion from €10.6 billion in August.
The data showed Germany's trade surplus rose slightly in nominal terms in the third quarter.
German third quarter GDP figures are due this Friday and are forecast to show quarter-on-quarter growth of 0.8 per cent, up from 0.3 per cent in the second quarter, when Germany exited recession.
Today's data lend support to evidence of a gradual pick-up in global trade.
Germany, the world's biggest exporter of goods since 2003, has been hit hard during the financial crisis, which put a huge dent in world trade after the collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers in September 2008.
Reuters