BERLIN—German exports fell again in July after a slight rebound in June, official data showed on Monday, as Europe’s biggest economy battles an industrial slowdown.
Exports totaled 130.4 billion euros ($141 billion), a fall of 0.9 percent compared with the previous month, according to adjusted figures from federal statistics agency Destatis.
FactSet analysts had predicted an even steeper decline of 1.5 percent.
Imports meanwhile were up 1.4 percent compared with June, totaling 114.5 billion euros.
The country’s adjusted trade surplus — the difference between exports and imports — fell slightly to 15.9 billion euros.
“Trade is no longer the strong resilient growth driver of the German economy that it used to be, but rather a drag,” ING economist Carsten Brzeski said.
German exports have been lagging for several months as a result of supply chain difficulties, a fragile global economy and stubbornly high inflation.
German inflation dipped slightly to 6.1 percent in August but remained at a level three times higher than the European Central Bank’s target rate.
Energy prices remain high and some energy-intensive sectors, such as the chemicals industry, are struggling to return to production levels before the war in Ukraine.
German industry has also been weighed down by the struggling economy in China, the country’s top trading partner.
In July, however, exports to China rose by 1.2 percent, after plunging by 5.9 percent in June.
The German economy stagnated in the second quarter of 2023, after contracting in the previous two quarters.
The country’s leading economic institutes expect the economy to shrink by 0.2 to 0.4 percent over the whole of 2023.
