It was sunny summer for German exporters as the volume of goods sold abroad hit double digit growth. It is looking increasingly likely, the Bureau of Statistics notes, that this record will be broken in 1997.
Exports continue to be the major force driving Germany's economic recovery.
The statistics office noted that movement in currency exchange rates was one factor that improved German trade figures. Despite the increase in Germany's trade surplus, the overall current account turned further downward for the first two months of 1997. Other factors in the current account, which includes trade in goods as well as cross-border services, foreign dividends and income and international transfers, were strongly negative. Germany managed to improve further on its record exports for 1996, but has not been able to check a growing current account deficit. The January trade surplus barely outpaced the current account deficit.