German trade surplus widens

WIESBADEN, Germany (AFP): The German trade surplus widened in January as growth in exports outpaced expansion in imports, data published by the federal statistics office on Tuesday showed.

The German trade surplus stood at 4.45 billion euros (US$4.1 billion) in January, compared with a surplus of 1.23 billion euros in December and a surplus of 2.97 billion euros in January 2000, the office said in a statement.

Germany exported goods worth a total 52 billion euros in January, an increase of 23.6 percent from the figure for January 2000, while imports rose by 21.5 percent to 47.5 billion euros.

Including trade in services and other factors, Germany posted a current account deficit of 5.27 billion euros in January, narrower than the deficit of 6.7 billion euros in December and the deficit of 6.75 billion euros in January 2000.