German exports rose surprisingly in August, and production also increased significantly. However, there are still many signs of an impending recession.
German exports increased unexpectedly in August. According to the Federal Statistical Office, exports rose by 1.3 percent to 131.9 billion euros compared to the previous month. Economists surveyed by the Reuters news agency had previously expected a decline of 1.0 percent. Imports, however, fell by 3.4 percent to 109.4 billion euros. Only a decline of 2.5 percent was expected here.
Goods worth 72.7 billion euros were exported to the states of the European Union in August. Exports to countries outside the EU totaled 59.2 billion euros. Most German exports went to the USA. 5.5 percent more goods were exported there than in July. This increased exports to the United States to a value of 13.5 billion euros.
What is also positive for the German economy is that companies in this country have increased their production surprisingly strongly. Industry, construction and energy suppliers together produced 2.9 percent more in August than in the previous month.
Nevertheless, the signs point to recession. The Ministry of Economic Affairs has confirmed that the federal government will revise the economic forecast for 2024 downwards. The “Süddeutsche Zeitung” had reported that the ministry assumes that the economy will shrink by 0.2 percent this year and that the gross domestic product (GDP) will not increase by 0.3 percent as previously expected.