German trade surplus grows as exports rise

(FRANKFURT) - The German trade surplus grew in August as exports rose for the first time in three months, official data showed on Monday.

Europe's biggest economy exported goods worth a total 90.5 billion euros ($122 billion) in August, 3.5 percent more than in July, the national statistics office Destatis said.

Imports, on the other hand, stagnated at 76.7 billion euros, so that the trade surplus increased to 13.8 billion euros from 10.6 billion euros in July.

Taking the eight months to August as a whole, German exports rose 14 percent over the year-earlier period to 696.8 billion euros, while imports were up 16 percent at 595.3 billion euros.

That meant the eight-month trade surplus increased 3.5 percent to 101.5 billion euros.