German exports fall more than expected in May

By Thomson Reuters Jul 8, 2025 | 1:43 AM

By Maria Martinez

(Reuters) -German exports fell more than expected in May as demand from the United States decreased following months of strong purchases in anticipation of U.S. tariffs, official data showed on Tuesday.

Exports fell by 1.4% in May compared with the previous month, data from the federal statistics office showed on Tuesday. The result compared with a 0.2% decrease forecast in a Reuters poll.

The foreign trade balance showed a surplus of 18.4 billion euros ($21.60 billion) in May, up from 15.7 billion euros in April.

Exports to EU countries dropped by 2.2% on the month, while exports of goods to countries outside the EU declined by 0.3%.

Exports of goods to the United States decreased by 7.7% compared with April, while exports to China fell by 2.9%.

($1 = 0.8519 euros)

(Reporting by Isabel Demetz in Gdansk and Maria Martinez in Berlin , Editing by Friederike Heine)