German exports posted a surprise fall in December as weaker foreign demand brought to an end four monthly gains, the Federal Statistics Office said Friday. Monthly exports from Europe's biggest economy fell by 0.9 per cent in December after climbing 0.7 per cent in November. Analysts had expected a rise of 0.8 per cent, dpa reported. Imports also dropped unexpectedly in December, by 0.6 per cent, after contracting by 2.3 per cent in November, the data showed. Analysts had forecast a 1.2-per-cent increase. This resulted in the calendar and seasonally adjusted trade surplus - the difference between exports and imports - narrowing to 18.5 billion euros (25.13 billion dollars) in December from 18.9 billion euros in November. For the full year, exports slipped by 0.2 per cent while imports dropped by 1.2 per cent compared with 2012. This represented the first full-year fall in exports since the 2009 recession. Germany's trade balance widened year on year to a record 198.9 billion euros, the statistics office said. The data, however, pointed to a steady economic pickup in Germany's key trading partners in the eurozone. While exports to the currency bloc rose 5.4 per cent in December compared with the same month in 2012, imports climbed 6.3 per cent.
