German exports collapsed by a record 31.1% in April

According to the Federal Statistical Office of German (Destatis), exports in the country, which is the largest economy in Europe, fell in April by 31.1% in annual terms and amounted to 75.7 billion euros. Imports for the reporting period decreased by 21.6%, to 72.2 billion euros.

Such a decline in exports was a record since the start of statistics on foreign trade in Germany in 1950. And such a strong drop in imports was recorded in July 2009, during the financial crisis (-23.6%).

In monthly terms, the decline in exports amounted to 24%, analysts expected a decrease of only 15.6%. Import compared to March decreased by 16.5%, which also turned out to be worse than analysts' forecasts of 16%.

The surplus of Germany's foreign trade balance in April amounted to 3.2 billion euros. Analysts predicted 10 billion euros.