German trade surplus contracts on falling exports

(MENAFN- AFP) A sharp drop in German exports caused the country's trade surplus to contract in November, official data showed on Friday.

Exports declined by 2.1 percent 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 95.2 billion euros ($112 billion) in November, down from 97.2 billion euros in October, Destatis said.

Imports, on the other hand, rose by 1.6 percent to 77.6 billion euros.

That meant the seasonally adjusted trade surplus declined to 17.6 billion euros in November from 20.8 billion euros in October.

In unadjusted terms, the trade surplus contracted to 17.9 billion euros from 22.1 billion euros in October, Destatis said.