The Local: German exports are tipped to reach a record high in 2011, with the country’s main trade association forecasting sales abroad should crash through the €1 trillion barrier for the first time.
The Federation of German Wholesale, Foreign Trade and Services (BGA) is predicting that exports will rise by about seven percent next year.
BGA chief Anton Börner said that would represent a resumption of the steady climb typical of Europe’s biggest economy, after a slump in 2009 followed by a quick rebound in 2010.
The BGA expects exports will have grown by about 16 percent this year, reaching €937 billion, though the picture could be even rosier, with an 18 percent increasing reaching €953 billion.
The record year so far is 2008, when Germany exported €984 billion worth of goods. This figure could “with a rise in exports of seven percent be broken,” Börner said.
“The boom regions for German exports were China, Southeast Asia, Brazil and the Arabian peninsula, Börner said of 2010.
Machine tools, cars, chemicals and electronic equipment were the big sellers.
Official figures from the Federal Statistical Office show that in the third quarter of 2010, exports to Russia rose 42.4 percent and exports to China climbed 34.3 percent. Altogether, €100.5 billion worth of goods were exported to countries outside the European Union in the three months from July to September.
While exporters are looking east for growth, Germany’s EU partners remain collectively the biggest export destination. Some €144.5 billion worth of goods, or 59 percent of the total, were sent to other EU countries in the third quarter.
Börner said the global economy would “clearly slow down” in 2011, though “I don’t believe to the point of recession.”
He expected the Germany to grow by 1.5 percent to 1.75 percent – which is among the more conservative forecasts that have been made.
