Germany's trade surplus with the rest of the world dipped slightly in November, but exports recovered from a sharp drop in October that some had feared could have been due to the rise in the euro, figures showed this morning.
The Federal Statistics Office said Germany's November trade balance was €10.4 billion, down from €10.8 billion and compared with €12.3 billion in the same month a year ago.
Exports fell an unadjusted 0.3 per cent year on year to €58.7 billion but were 4.1 per cent higher than in October on a seasonally adjusted basis.
Exports had dropped 6.6 per cent in October, the biggest monthly drop in over 10 years. The finance ministry later said it may have been the first sign that the euro's recovery from lows hit in 2000 was hurting exporters.
The euro averaged $1.1702 in November, little changed from $1.1692 in October, according to ECB data, while on a trade-weighted basis it actually eased slightly against currencies of a narrow group of key competitors.