German exports rose more than expected at the start of the year thanks to rising demand from EU countries and China, data from the federal statistics office showed on Wednesday.
Exports rose by 6.3 percent in January compared with the previous month. The result compared with a forecast of a 1.5 percent increase from a Reuters poll.
Imports rose by 3.6 percent from December, the federal statistics office reported, versus analysts’ expectations for a 1.8 percent increase.
The foreign trade balance showed a calendar- and seasonally adjusted surplus of 27.5 billion euros ($29.9 billion) in January, versus a surplus of 23.3 billion euros the previous month.
Sentiment in the German export industry has brightened somewhat in February. The Ifo export expectations index rose to minus 7.0 points in February, up from minus 8.5 points in January.
“The German export economy is hardly benefiting at all from current global economic developments,” said Klaus Wohlrabe, head of surveys at Ifo. “There’s still a lot of room for improvement.”
The German government expects the economy to grow 0.2 percent this year, far less than a previously forecast 1.3 percent, as weak global demand, geopolitical uncertainty and persistently high inflation dent hopes for a swift rebound.
Europe’s largest economy shrank by 0.3 percent in 2023, making it the world’s worst performing major economy, and it is broadly expected to enter another technical recession in the first quarter of this year.
The economy is set to grow by 1 percent next year, Habeck said, adding that inflation is expected to be around 2 percent in 2025. – Reuters