German imports and exports both dropped in December

Germany's trade surplus unexpectedly widened in December as imports dropped sharply over the month, according to the country's federal statistics office Destatis.

Imports fell by 6.7% to €103.1bn after a revised 1.5% increase in November, much lower than the 1.5% decline expected by economists.

Exports also fell but by a lesser 4.6% to €125.3bn, following a revised 3.5% growth the month before – again worse than the 2.0% reduction predicted.

As a result, the trade surplus increased to €22.2bn, up from €20.7bn previously, above the consensus estimate of €18.8bn.

Claus Vistesen, said the key story in Monday's data was the overall collapse in trade volumes. "Admittedly, this comes after strong growth in both imports and exports in November, but still," Vistesen said.

"We always have to be careful with seasonals in December, but these are recessionary numbers, consistent with overall difficult economic conditions in the German economy."