Germany's trade surplus narrowed more than economists expected in June as the value of imports surged to a record high, preliminary Federal Statistics Office data showed today.
Lothar Hessler, an economist at HSBC Trinkaus & Burkhardt, said the figures for the second quarter overall suggested net foreign trade made a small contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) growth.
"We did not quite achieve the same (0.5 per cent) GDP growth in the spring as we saw in the first quarter," Hessler said.
"Foreign trade should have provided a bit of a boost," he added. "Despite the strong euro, there are still no warning signals here."
The Federal Statistics Office is due to publish a first estimate of second-quarter GDP on August 14th, with a detailed breakdown to follow on August 23rd.
The Bundesbank and the Finance Ministry said in separate monthly bulletins last month that quarterly growth was probably slightly weaker in the April-June period than the 0.5 per cent pace seen in the first three months of the year.
Exports advanced 2.1 per cent on the month in adjusted terms in June to €80.7 billion, the highest since October, the Office said.
Imports jumped 6.7 per cent to 65.9 billion, the highest on record, according to a statistics office spokesman. The last time imports posted stronger monthly growth was in June 2002, Bundesbank data showed.
Economists had predicted exports would rise 1.4 per cent on the month, with imports seen up 2.9 per cent.