German exports sink in January as supply woes persist

German exports fell in January, official figures published Friday showed, as bottlenecks and coronavirus-related health restrictions stifled Europe’s largest economy.

The value of exports fell by 2.8 per cent on the previous month, figures from the federal statistics agency Destatis showed, but were still 7.5 per cent above the same month last year.

In all the traditionally export-strong country shipped 116.9 billion euros’ ($128.9 billion) worth of good in the first month of the year.

Meanwhile, imports fell faster than exports, down 4.2 per cent for a total value of 107.5 billion euros. 

In January, businesses continued to contend with the same widespread supply difficulties that hampered industry throughout 2021. 

The economy finished the year on the downward note, shrinking by 0.3 per cent, with the German central bank expecting another fall in the first quarter of 2022, pushing the country into recession.

Output could shrink “noticeably”, the Bundesbank said in mid-February, while manufacturing industries competed with a “serious” lack of raw materials and components, as well as pandemic restrictions.

The prediction was made before Russian troops moved on Ukraine, serving a fresh blow to the economic outlook and causing new supply disruptions.

The latest set of figures from Destatis show that exports to Russia rose signficantly between December and January, up 14.4 per cent to 2.6 billion euros in the first month of the year.

Imports from Russia also rose by 18.9 per cent to 3.9 billion euros in January, before the implementation of sanctions in response to the invasion of Ukraine at the end of February.