Strong plus in trade with the USA: German exports are increasing despite the crisis

Above all, business with the USA is booming: in August, exports rose by a total of 1.

Strong plus in trade with the USA: German exports are increasing despite the crisis

Above all, business with the USA is booming: in August, exports rose by a total of 1.6 percent - also thanks to a strong increase in US trade. The positive reading surprised many economists who had predicted slower growth.

German exports increased in August despite the cooling global economy, rising interest rates and material shortages. Exports grew by 1.6 percent on the previous month to 133.1 billion euros, mainly due to stronger demand from the USA and China, as reported by the Federal Statistical Office. Most exports went again to the USA, the most important customer of the German export economy: 12 percent more goods "Made in Germany" were sold there than in July, which corresponds to a value of 13.8 billion euros.

Exports to the People's Republic of China increased by 2.9 percent to 9.2 billion euros, while deliveries to Great Britain increased by 7.4 percent to 6.2 billion euros. Bucking the trend, exports to the EU countries fell by 0.8 percent to 72.8 billion euros.

Business with Russia grew by almost 12 percent on the previous month to 1.1 billion euros. In business with Russia, the effects of the sanctions are visible in a year-on-year comparison. In August 2021, German companies were still exporting goods worth 1.8 billion euros - around 63 percent more.

Economists had expected exports to rise by just 1.1 percent after a 1.6 percent drop in August. Imports increased more strongly: They grew by 3.4 percent to 131.9 billion euros and thus for the seventh month in a row. "In view of the difficult global situation and the high level of exports, the result is remarkable," commented the chief economist at Hauck Aufhäuser Lampe Privatbank AG, Alexander Krüger, on the development. "Increasing global recessionary tendencies will make life more difficult for the export sector."

Globally, the still disrupted supply chains, purchasing power weakened by inflation and sometimes immensely high costs for preliminary services and energy are hindering world trade. The mood among German exporters has therefore recently cooled noticeably: export expectations fell in September to their lowest level since May 2020, as the Munich-based IFO Institute found out in its monthly company survey. "Due to the slowdown in the global economy, no greater momentum is to be expected in the medium term either," stressed IFO President Clemens Fuest. Export expectations are negative in most industrial sectors.