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