German Exports Up Despite Euro Strength

Despite the increasingly strong euro, German exports rose 2 percent to a record high in 2003, according to early estimates from the German Statistics Office. Based on the year through October, the Statistics Office says exports for 2003 were valued at €664 billion, news wires reported. Imports were also up 2 percent from a year earlier, at €529 billion. In 2002, exports rose 1.6 percent from a year earlier, statisticians said. Nonetheless, the growth figures were weaker than the 3.5 percent rise that the exporters association, BGA, had originally predicted. The BGA lowered its prognosis in the beginning of December to between 1.5 and 1.8 percent.