Germany’s exports post a slight increase in Oct

According to data from the Federal Statistics Office, Germany’s exports rose in October from a month earlier, posting an increase of 0.5% on a monthly basis although it stood below the expectations of a 0.9% increase. This small increase followed the 1% decrease in September and reportedly lessened the hopes of a serious contribution of trade to the economy and raised the expectations of seeing only a modest expansion by the end of the year.

The data also showed that Germany’s imports also climbed 1.3% in October and beat the economists’ estimates which called for an increase of 1.1%.

However, both exports and imports declined in October on an annual basis by 4.1% and 2.2% respectively.

The country’s trade surplus, meanwhile, decreased to €19.3 billion ($20.48 billion) in October from €24.2 billion ($25.68 billion) in the previous month. The trade surplus was also down on a yearly basis from €21.7 ($23.03 billion) in October, 2015.