German Trade Surplus Rises in March

Germany's trade surplus increased in March as exports grew faster than imports, official data showed on Tuesday. The German trade surplus amounted to 16.3 billion euros ($20.9 billion) in March, up from 13.6 billion euros in February, but little changed from the 16.6 billion euros recorded in March 2004, the federal statistics office, Destatis, calculated in preliminary figures. The biggest eurozone economy exported goods worth 65.3 billion euros in March. That represented an increase of 2.1 percent in calendar and seasonally adjusted terms from the figure for February. But imports declined, falling by 1.2 percent to 49.0 billion euros, the statisticians said. Taking into account trade in services and income, Germany's current account showed a surplus of 12.0 billion euros in March, up from 9.1 billion euros in February, but down slightly from 12.4 billion euros in March 2004.