BERLIN, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- German exports in September increased by 4.6 percent while imports increased by 2.3 percent year-on-year, according to figures published by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on Friday.
German foreign trade recorded a "good monthly result", said Holger Bingmann, president of the Federation of German Wholesale, Foreign Trade and Services (BGA). "Foreign trade always seems good for surprises."
According to Destatis, Germany exported goods worth 114.2 billion euros (126.19 billion U.S. dollars), up 1.5 percent compared to last month. At the same time, Germany's imports grew by 1.3 percent. In total, Germany imported goods worth 93 billion euros in September.
Although seasonally adjusted real exports in Germany were growing, "production in manufacturing was down by more than 1 percent", Axel Lindner, Deputy Head of the Department of Macroeconomics at the Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH) told Xinhua.
"We have been observing this divergence for quite a while now," Lindner said. Since early 2018, manufacturing in Germany had been shrinking, while exports were about constant.
With regards to Germany's much discussed foreign trade balance, the Destatis figures showed a surplus of 21.1 billion euros in September which had increased by 2.9 billion euros compared to the same period last year.
