German exports record a trillion euros in 2011
Germany's trade surplus reached 158b euros (£132bn; $209bn) in 2011
on record exports that rose 11.4 percent to top one trillion euros for
the first time. The national statistics office also said that imports
rose 13.2 percent to reach an all-time high of 902b euros.
In 2010, the trade surplus for Europe's biggest economy was 155b
euros.
Meanwhile, the Bank of France has warned that the eurozone's second
biggest economy would stagnate in the first three months of 2012. German
exports to countries outside the 27-nation European Union showed the
strongest growth last year, up 13.6 percent to 432.8b euros.
Exports to other EU countries rose 9.9 percent to 627.3b euros. Of
those, 420.9b euros went to the eurozone bloc, an 8.6 percent rise.
Germany's balance of payments, a broader measure of exchanges with
other countries that includes financial transactions, showed a surplus
of 136b euros 2011, down from 142b euros the year before.
The Bank of France said the country's economy was likely to see zero
growth in the first three months of 2012. The French economy, the
second-largest in the eurozone, has posted a trade deficit for 2011 of
almost 70b euros. BBC
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