Germany's Trade Surplus Grew 'Less Than Expected' in February

The EU has repeatedly insisted that Germany take measures to boost imports and domestic demand. Photo by EPA/BGNES

Germany's trade surplus was below expectations in February compared to the previous month, the country's statistics unit revealed.

Data quoted by WBP Online has shown that exports were down 1.3% in that month, while in February they were up 2.2%.

Imports registered a slender 0.4% increase, dwarfed by January's 4.1%. Market expectations were 0.5% down for exports and 0.1% up for imports.

Germany's trade surplus has now reached EUR 16.3 B, whereas experts predicted it to be EUR 17.5 B.

Germany, which has a predominantly export-oriented economy, has often drawn criticism by the EU and the IMF over its slack imports and little efforts to boost domestic consumer demand, a move which could also help troubled member states of the bloc.

In 2013, the country's overall foreign trade balance for the entire 2013 recorded a surplus of EUR 198.9 B, a historic record high. The figure for 2012 was EUR 189.8 B.

At the same time France, the second-largest Eurozone economy after Germany, recorded a trade deficit of EUR 5.2 B at the end of last year.

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