A sharp drop in German exports caused the country's trade surplus to contract in November, official data has shown.
Exports declined by 2.1% in November, driving down the trade surplus, the balance between imports and exports, the federal statistics office Destatis said in a statement.
In seasonally adjusted terms, Germany exported goods worth a total of €95.2bn in November, down from €97.2bn in October, Destatis said.
Imports, on the other hand, rose by 1.6% to €77.6bn.
That meant the seasonally adjusted trade surplus declined to €17.6bn in November from €20.8bn in October.
In unadjusted terms, the trade surplus contracted to €17.9bn from €22.1bn in October, Destatis said.
Meanwhile, German industrial production declined fractionally in November, pulled down by declining activity in the energy sector, data released today has shown.
According to regular data compiled by the economy ministry, industrial output eased by 0.1% in November, after increasing by 0.6% in October.
Manufacturing output increased by 0.3% while energy output was down by 2.4% and construction output declined by 0.6%, the ministry calculated.
