German exports and imports both weaken in September

(Sharecast News) - Fresh data on German trade released on Friday underscored the ongoing fragility faced by Europe's top economy, coming in worse than expected. In September, exports from Germany registered a 2.4% month-over-month decline, surpassing the 2% drop pencilled in by economists surveyed by FactSet.

That marked the third consecutive monthly decrease, with exports plummeting by 7.5% compared to the same month in 2022.

Imports also experienced a setback, dropping by 1.7% compared to the previous month and by 16.6% compared to September of the prior year.

The seasonally adjusted trade balance in Germany for September fell to €16.5bn, down from a revised €17.7 billion in August, though slightly above the consensus estimate of €16.3bn.

"The nominal trade balance has now normalised after the terms-of-trade shock late last year," said Pantheon Macroeconomics chief eurozone economist Claus Vistesen.

"The inflation-adjusted surplus, by contrast, has declined slightly in the past six months, but the big hit to GDP growth was in the second quarter.

"The three-month change in both imports and exports, in nominal terms, remains below zero."

Exports to other European Union countries contracted by 2.1% and saw significant declines of 4.0% and 7.3% in exports to the United States and China, respectively.

Conversely, exports to the United Kingdom increased by 2.3% on a monthly basis.

On the import side, demand from other EU countries declined by 2.6% and 0.9% from China.

Imports from the US and the UK, however, rose by 0.5% and 5.2%, respectively.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.