German trade picked up at a faster-than-expected pace in September, the National Statistics Office (Destatis) reported Monday.
Monthly exports increased by 2.6% compared to August, with German companies delivering goods worth €105.9bn ($114bn). The majority of these goods went to other European Union nations, representing a 7.7% rise in items shipped to that region.
But even exports to overseas countries rose slightly, despite sluggish trade with some of the bigger emerging economies.
Promising full-year projection
Imports picked up 3.6% in September after slumping 3.2% in August, Destatis said.
“Imports are currently growing faster than exports, and this has a lot to do with the lull in Brazil and Russia,” HSBC Trinkaus economist Rainer Sartorius commented.
In the nine months to the end of September, German exports grew by 7.0% year-on-ear to total almost €896bn.
The BGA trade organisation said it expected exports to surge by up to 6.0% for the whole of 2015.
