Germany's foreign trade sector posted a record-high surplus of an estimated 155.6 billion euros (202.5 billion dollars) last year on record-setting exports, officials said Tuesday. The Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden, presenting full-year estimates based on figures through the first 11 months of 2004, said that the projected trade surplus was 19.8 per cent above the previous record of 129.9 billion euros set in 2003. Exports were estimated to have reached 731 billion euros, up 10 per cent on 2003 levels, while imports gained 7.7 per cent to 664.5 billion euros, the office said. In a sign that German exporters performed well despite the effect of the higher euro making their goods more expensive, the office said that exports to third countries outside the eurozone region gained 10.4 per cent last year. Inside the eurozone, exports were up 10.3 per cent, the statistics office reported. Imports from third countries meanwhile gained 9.8 per cent, a rate surpassing the overall increase in imports, indicating that the stronger euro had helped stimulate purchases abroad. The trade surplus is a major factor in Germany's overall economic performance. Last week the office, in reporting that the gross domestic product grew 1.7 per cent in 2004, noted that the foreign trade surplus accounted for 1.2 per cent to the overall GDP rise.
