German exports jumped in March to the highest monthly value on record, boosting growth in Europe’s biggest economy. The annual exports/imports were the highest since 1950.

Germany exported commodities to the value of €98.3bn and imported commodities to the value of € 79.4bn in March 2011.Destatis, Germany's federal statistics office said German exports increased by 15.8% and imports by 16.9% in March 2011 on March 2010. That was the highest monthly figure recorded for both exports and imports since the collection of foreign trade statistics had started in the Federal Republic of Germany in 1950. The former all-time high of exports, which amounted to €88.8bn, was observed in April 2008, that of imports in November 2010 (€74.1bn).

After calendar and seasonal adjustment, exports increased by 7.3% and imports by 3.1% in March 2011 compared with February 2011.  The foreign trade balance showed a surplus of €18.9bn in March 2011. In March 2010, the surplus amounted to €17.0bn. In calendar and seasonally adjusted terms, the foreign trade balance recorded a surplus of €15.2bn in March 2011.

According to provisional results from the Deutsche Bundesbank, the current account of the balance of payments showed a surplus of €19.5bn in March 2011, which included the balance of services (+€0.5bn), factor income net (+€4.9bn), current transfers (–€2.9bn), and supplementary trade items (–€1.9bn). In March 2010, the German current account showed a surplus of €18.8bn.

In March 2011, Germany shipped goods to the value of €58.8bn to the member countries of the European Union (EU), while it received commodities to the value of €51.3bn from those countries. Compared with March 2010, dispatches to the EU countries increased by 16.0% and arrivals from those countries by 21.1%. Commodities to the value of €39.7bn (+14.2%) were dispatched to the Eurozone countries in March 2011, while the value of the commodities received from those countries was €36.1bn (+20.8%). In March 2011, commodities to the value of € 19.1bn (+20.0%) were dispatched to EU countries not belonging to the Eurozone while the value of the commodities which arrived from those countries was € 15.2bn (+21.8%).

Exports of commodities to countries outside the European Union (third countries) amounted to €39.5bn in March 2011, while imports from those countries totalled €28.1bn. Compared with March 2010, exports to third countries increased by 15.4% and imports from those countries by 9.9%.

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