Germany: Merchandise exports skyrocket June
Merchandise exports jumped 14.9% month-on-month in June on a calendar- and seasonally-adjusted basis, after expanding 9.0% in May. The headline figure marked the strongest expansion since at least August 1990, when the current series began. Imports, meanwhile, rose 7.0% over the prior month in June (May: +3.6% mom). As a result, the calendar- and seasonally-adjusted trade surplus nearly doubled from EUR 7.5 billion in May to EUR 14.5 billion in June.
On an annual basis, meanwhile, merchandise exports dived 9.4%, following May’s 29.8% plunge and imports jumped 7.0% over the same month last year in June (May: 3.6% yoy). Lastly, the trend deteriorated, with the 12-month trailing merchandise trade balance recording a EUR 193.0 billion surplus in June, compared to EUR 196.7 billion surplus in May.
Carsten Brzeski, chief Eurozone economist at ING, commented: “Exports surged again and […] [w]ith these strong numbers, some upward revision of the Q2 GDP data should not be excluded.”
However, foreign trade is still struggling from the Covid-19 crisis and has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels. Ines Kitzing, first vice president of the Federal Association of Wholesale, Foreign Trade and Services (BGA) stated: “After the sharp slump, exporters are missing almost 90 billion euros in the till in the first half of the year alone. Companies are struggling to get back out of this deep valley. […] It is becoming apparent that positive impulses are coming in particular from third countries such as China and so far less from the EU. We will probably have to wait longer for a recovery here. “