Frankfurt (AFP) - Germany led its trade surplus to 15.2 billion euros ($22 billion) in March, official data showed Monday as sustained global powered Records exports by economic engine of Europe.
In February, the calendar and seasonally adjusted trade surplus were come to 11.2 billion euros, figures published by the national office of statistics have Montreal.
Germany exported goods a nominal 98.3 billion euros in March while taking imports EUR 79.4 billion, showed data Destatis.
"It was the monthly figure higher registered for exports and imports from the collection of statistics of international trade had begun in the Federal Republic of Germany in 1950," said a statement.
On a monthly basis, exports were more than 7.3% and imports rose by 3.1%.
"The brand"made in Germany"is extremely popular abroad," Economics Minister Rainer Bruederle commented in a statement that welcomed the most recent results.
"If the late Easter should have been an important factor here, this number is indeed very strong," Commerzbank analyst Ulrike Rondorf added in reference to the export figure, the largest monthly gain since May 2010.
On an annualized basis, the value of the goods shipped abroad by the Germany, the second largest exporter in the world after China, acquired 15.8% in March, while imports were 16.9% higher, Destatis said.
Citing data provided by the Central Bank of the Germany, he said the current account of balance of payments, a broad measure of trade, showed a surplus of EUR 19.5 billion in March, $ 18.8 billion a year ago.
"Since the trough of the recession, exports have increased by more than 30%, back to their level of before the crisis," Senior Economist ING Carsten Stories noted.
A breakdown of the data have Montreal that the greatest gain of 12 months in exports was an increase of 20% for countries outside the European Union.
"In the future, exports should remain a source for growth, even if the pace of export growth is to slow down," said Stories.
Last week, the Federation of German machine tool manufacturers, VDMA, said arrested for their products, which are very popular in the emerging economies, grew up in the first quarter of 2011, although the pace slowed slightly.
A breakdown of these data showed 31 per cent earned international orders.
German auto makers have also reported a string of solid results this year, with BMW and Audi in particular to the research of selling more than 1.5 million and 1.2 million vehicles this year, respectively, they said Monday.
Overall however, German industrial orders declined by a surprise four percent in March from February, the first fall of this year, official figures showed on Thursday.
High energy prices and other commodities began to undermine the global activity, and the pace of growth should slow down later this year.
The German Government now expects the economy to expand by 2.6% this year and 1.8% in 2012.
Rondorf of Commerzbank said: "We remain very at ease with our forecast that the German economy will increase of 3.0% in 2011."
