Germany’s exports fell between January and December by the widest margin since June, in the latest set of patchy data on the eurozone’s biggest economy.
Exports dropped 0.5 per cent to €111bn in January on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis, missing expectations in a FactSet poll of a rise of 0.75 per cent. Imports also slipped 0.5 per cent month-on-month to €89.7bn against forecasts of a 0.1 per cent rise.
The trade surplus held steady at €21.3bn, according to data from the Federal Statistics Office.
Friday’s disappointing report comes a day after another slate of data showed that new industrial orders dropped 3.9 per cent in January, significantly worse than the 1.6 per cent decline that had been expected by economists.
The trade figures come at a time of heightened uncertainty over protectionism that was sharpened on Thursday after a move by US President Donald Trump to apply hefty tariffs on imports of steel and aluminium.
Carveouts were given to Canada and Mexico, but the exemptions excluded the European Union.
In January, about 40 per cent of German exports were to countries outside of the EU, according to the data released on Friday.
“In recent days, some darker clouds have appeared at the German economic sky,” said Carsten Brzeski, ING chief economist for Germany and Austria.
“New protectionism would definitely hurt the self-proclaimed export world champion and the Italian elections could slow down current europhobia. However, at least for the near term, there is plenty of evidence that the German economy will power ahead.”