BERLIN, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- Trade in goods between Germany and 29 countries in Eastern and Central Europe in the first half (H1) of this year declined by 14.6 percent compared with H1 2019, the German Eastern Business Association (OAOEV) announced on Friday.
After a strong first quarter and the historic slump in April and May, with monthly slumps in trade above 30 percent due to measures to contain COVID-19, "signs in German trade with Eastern Europe are pointing to recover," OAOEV noted.
With a decrease of 13 percent, the result for June was slightly better than the average for the first six months, according to OAOEV.
The low point of the COVID-19 crisis had probably passed and "we are confident that we will see further economic catch-up effects in the second half of the year," said OAOEV Chairman Oliver Hermes.
Trade in goods between Germany and Poland, Germany's most important trading partner in Eastern and Central Europe, declined only by 7.4 percent compared with H1 of the previous year, despite problems in border traffic for months due to COVID-19 restrictions, according to OAOEV.
The development in trade figures between Germany and Poland showed "how sustainable our economic partnership already is," said Hermes.
Germany's trade with Russia declined by 24 percent to 22 billion euros (26 billion U.S. dollars) in H1. Russia now ranked fourth, behind Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary.
Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan recorded above-average declines in trade with Germany. "In all three cases, this can clearly be attributed to lower demand for energy sources and the resulting sharp drop in oil and gas prices in the second quarter of 2020," explained Hermes.
Overall, Germany traded goods worth 197 billion euros with Eastern and Central European countries in H1, according to OAOEV. The share of trade with Eastern Europe accounted for 18.5 percent of Germany's total foreign trade. (1 euro = 1.178 U.S. dollars) Enditem
