German companies exported goods worth €105.2 billion ($120.8 billion) in August, the Federal Statistics Office (Destatis) reported Tuesday. The figure, which is based on preliminary calculations, marks a slight 0.1 percent drop month on month.

However, exports rose by 2.2 percent, if compared with the level reached in the same month last year.

Imports in August amounted to €88.1 billion, a hefty fall of 2.7 percent from the previous month, but a 6.2 percent surge compared with August 2017.

Destatis said the calendar and seasonally adjusted trade balance for August stood at €18.3 billion.

More uncertainties

German exports to fellow European Union countries rose by 1.2 percent year on year to total €59.3 billion, while shipments to nations outside the 28-member bloc increased by 3.5 percent to €45.9 billion.

Analysts see further growth in German exports jeopardized by a widening of the trade conflict between the US and China as well as by a general cooling of the global economy and uncertainties over the economic impact of Britain's exit from the European Union.

Economists are taking an increasingly pessimistic view of the German economy, with the top German institutes last month revising down their 2018 growth forecast and warning that an escalation of trade friction involving the United States could cause a major recession in Germany and Europe.

hg/jd (dpa, Reuters)