BERLIN, Apr 9 (AFP) : Germany's powerful trade surplus shrank in February from the January level after exports fell amid an uncertain economic environment, but imports continued to grow, data showed on Wednesday.
Europe's top economy posted a trade surplus of 15.7 billion euros in February ($21.6 billion), down nine per cent from 17.3 billion in January, allowing for seasonal blips, official data showed.
The dip was the result of slightly higher imports of 77.6 billion euros, against a 1.3-per cent fall in exports to 93.3 billion euros, the federal statistics office Destatis said.
Germany has come under fire for its large trade surplus, with critics arguing that its economic might comes at the expense of the eurozone's weaker members.
Last year its trade surplus surged to a record high, while neighbouring France, the eurozone's second-biggest economy, still showed a huge deficit despite progress.
The German trade surplus underpins the eurozone's external accounts and is an important factor in what French Prime Minister Manuel Valls criticised on Tuesday as the undue strength of the euro which he said was penalising exporters.
France's new Socialist government has made correcting the country's chronic structural deficit a priority.
Germany's exports to the European Union, Germany's biggest trading partner, increased in February from the same month in 2013 but imports from the EU were even stronger.
The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday cut its growth forecast for the global economy, pointing to the threat from the Ukraine crisis and the slowdown in major emerging economies.
German trade surplus slips in February as exports fall
FE Team | Published: April 10, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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