German Trade Numbers Disappoint
Thursday 10th October – 07:18 (BST)
Figures released earlier today indicated that Germanys trade surplus has narrowed for the fourth time in five months. The numbers from the Statistiches Bundesamt Deutschland showed the EU’s biggest economy trade surplus narrowed to €18.1 billion in August 2019 from €20.2 billion in the same month a year earlier. Exports also fell by -1.8% month on month. The euro moved lower against both the pound and the dollar following the news.
For comparison, the balance of trade in Germany averaged €5.3 billion from 1950 until 2019, reaching an all time high of €25.45 billion in March of 2016 and a record low of -0.53 billion in April of 1991.
Attentions now turn to UK data with manufacturing, industrial production and trade balance figures released shortly.