As the coronavirus crisis reduced demand for goods from Germany, the Federal Statistics Office said the country’s exports fell by 11.8 percent in March, their steepest drop since current records began in 1990.
A drop by 5.1 percent recorded by seasonally adjusted imports. The trade surplus narrowed to 12.8 billion euros, from a downwardly revised 21.4 billion euros in the second month of the year.
Economists had expected exports to fall by 5 percent and imports by 4 percent. The projection for trade surplus was at 18.9 billion euros.
Despite a massive rescue package to cushion the Covid-19 impact valued 750 billion euros, the economy expected by the government to shrink by a record of 6.3 percent. Any recovery expected by economists to be slow. The pace largely depends on how fast Germany’s trade partners and European neighbours emerge from the crisis.
Data published earlier this week showed both industrial orders and output posted record drops in March.
