Germany's trade surplus widened in July as exports posted a surprise gain, despite signs that the escalating trade war has taken its toll on the global economy, data released on Monday showed.
But while monthly exports climbed 0.7 per cent in July, imports slumped by a bigger-than forecast 1.5 per cent, the Federal Statistics Office (Destatis) said, consequently underlining worries that Europe's biggest economy has lost momentum.
July imports had been forecast to contract by 0.3 per cent from June when they rose by 0.7 per cent.
Analysts had expected German exports to sink by 0.5 per cent in July after edging down by 0.1 per cent in June, with the ongoing trade dispute having added to a slew of global economic uncertainties including the threat of Britain crashing out of the European Union without a deal.
Year-on-year exports gained 3.8 per cent in July after dropping by 8 per cent in June.
However, on a yearly basis imports continued to slide, dropping by 0.9 per cent in July after 4.2 per cent in June, Destatis said.
Germany's seasonally adjusted trade surplus widened to 20.2 billion euros (22.3 billion dollars) in July from 18 billion euros in June.
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