German exports in May still far below pre-crisis level

Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-09 19:51:14|Editor: huaxia

BERLIN, July 9 (Xinhua) -- German exports in May recovered by 9 percent compared with the previous month and reached 80.3 billion euros (91 billion U.S. dollars), the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) announced on Thursday.

However, compared with February, the month before COVID-19 measures were introduced in Germany, exports were down significantly by 26.8 percent, according to Destatis.

"Exports are recovering only cautiously and are still well below the previous year's level," said Joachim Lang, director general of the Federation of German Industries (BDI), adding that the coronavirus crisis was "far from over."

Exports to non-European third countries even fell by 30.5 percent year-on-year and amounted to 37.7 billion euros in May, according to Destatis. Exports to other European Union (EU) member states fell by 29 percent to 42.4 billion euros.

Germany's export-oriented economy had "to prepare for a difficult time," warned Lang. Also, growth prospects for Europe as a domestic market were "extremely gloomy."

"The degree to which year-on-year exports were affected depended on the trading partner," noted Destatis. German exports to China only decreased "rather moderately" by 12.3 percent to 7.2 billion euros in May.

At the same time, German exports to the United States, which had been hit particularly hard by the coronavirus pandemic, plummeted by 36.5 percent to 6.5 billion euros, according to Destatis.

German imports in May also declined strongly, albeit not as much as exports. According to Destatis, imports in May were down 21.7 percent year-on-year to 73.2 billion euros.

Imports to Germany from China in May even increased 23.4 percent year-on-year. With imported goods worth 10.7 billion euros, China was the single largest exporter for Germany, according to Destatis. (1 euro = 1.13 U.S. dollars) Enditem

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