Germany: Export growth comes in flat in January
Month-on-month export growth was flat in January, contrasting December’s revised 1.6% increase (previously reported: +1.5% month-on-month). Import growth, meanwhile, accelerated from a revised 0.7% (previously reported: +1.2% mom) in December to 1.5% in January. As a result, the trade surplus narrowed from EUR 19.9 billion in December to EUR 18.5 billion in January.
Compared to the same month a year prior, export growth swung from a marked 4.4% drop in December (previously reported: +4.5% year-on-year) to a 1.7% expansion in January. The 12-month moving sum of exports nonetheless eased from 3.0% in December to 2.5% in January. Year-on-year import growth rebounded from a 0.4% drop in December to a 5.0% increase in January; however, the 12-month moving sum of imports softened slightly to 5.5% in January from 5.7% in December. In addition, the 12-month moving sum of the trade balance narrowed from EUR 230.9 billion in December to EUR 228.5 billion in January.