The German economy has enjoyed yet another growth in its trade surplus, in spite of a decline in exports over July, according to official figures released today.

In the figures, released by the Federal Statistics Office, the surplus was shown to be a result of a slight dip in the value of exports compared to a sharp drop of 2.4% in imports over the period.

The trade surplus measures the gap between imports and exports, reflected in terms of either a positive, surplus value or a negative deficit in trade.

The trade surplus increased to 16.5 billion euros ($22.5 billion), up 1.5 billion euros from June’s figure. Despite their slight decline, exports are currently sitting around record high levels, reflected by record German output and demand for German-manufactured goods.

The German economy, within the thirteen-nation Eurozone, has seen something of a recovery over recent years, despite a very recent dampening of growth and performance, probably as a result of worries from the US.

With the sub-prime market still unresolved and banks short of billions, and the European Central Bank likely to raise interest rates to 4.25% later in the year, the German economy could be in for some turmoil in the near future, taking the shine off its recent economic recovery.

Analysts have shied from predicting the outlook for the market over the next few months, with falling investor confidence and the ongoing sub-prime saga ad market volatility making it too hard to accurately forecast where the economy will be in six months to a year’s time.

However, with German investor confidence having officially fallen, and manufacturing orders significantly down for July, not to mention sluggish growth over the second quarter for the Eurozone’s largest economy, the outlook for the next year may be starting to look more bleak.

Tags: European Economy News //