Berlin: Germany's foreign trade surplus rose to 19.9 billion euros ($17.2 billion) in August, up from 16.3 billion euros in July, as reported by official data from Destatis released on Thursday. This increase exceeded market expectations, which had anticipated a surplus of 15.1 billion euros for August.

According to Anadolu Agency, on an annual basis, exports from Germany, Europe's largest economy, decreased by 0.7% to 129.7 billion euros, while imports increased by 3.5% to 112.5 billion euros. On a monthly comparison, exports saw a slight decline of 0.5%, and imports fell by 1.3% in August.

Germany's trade with EU member states in August showed exports totaling 72.5 billion euros, and imports amounted to 58.8 billion euros. For countries outside the EU, exports stood at 57.1 billion euros, with imports reaching 53.7 billion euros.

The United States received the majority of German exports in August, despite a 2.5% monthly decline, bringing the value down to 10.9 billion euros. This marked the fifth consecutive month of declining exports to the US, reaching their lowest point since November 2021, when they were valued at 10.3 billion euros. On an annual basis, exports to the US dropped by 20.1% in August.

Exports to China increased by 5.4% month-on-month to 6.8 billion euros, whereas exports to the UK fell by 6.5% to 6.5 billion euros. Meanwhile, Germany's imports were mainly from China, totaling 13.5 billion euros, which was a 4.5% decrease from the previous month. Imports from the US reached 8 billion euros, marking a 3.4% increase month-on-month.