German Trade Surplus Declines

Germany's trade surplus decreased in April as exports contracted and imports grew, official data showed on Thursday. The German trade surplus amounted to 12.6 billion euros ($15.4 billion) in April, down from 16.3 billion euros in March and also lower than the 14.3 billion euros recorded in April 2004, the federal statistics office, Destatis, calculated in preliminary figures. The biggest euro-zone economy exported goods worth 64.5 billion euros in April. That represented a decrease of 0.4 percent in calendar and seasonally adjusted terms from the figure for March. But imports grew, rising by 3.8 percent to 51.9 billion euros, the statisticians said. Taking into account trade in services and income, Germany's current account showed a surplus of 7.0 billion euros in April, down from 12.0 billion euros in March, and also down from 8.4 billion euros in April 2004.