Container ships at the loading terminal in the Port of Hamburg, Germany. FABIAN BIMMER/REUTERS
The soaring energy bill and the Chinese slowdown have sharply deteriorated the external balance.
Correspondent in Berlin
The strength of the German trade balance, which has always been the pride of the country, is turning into weakness over time. The Destatis institute reported on Thursday a fifth fall in the trade surplus, which fell by 56% in 2022, to 76 billion euros, against 173.3 billion the previous year.
The culprits are quickly found, and in particular the rise in the energy bill which mechanically inflates the value of imports by 24%. More destabilized than its neighbors by the war in Ukraine, which deprived it of Russian gas resources at low prices, the German economy began last year a process of diversifying its supplies, mainly in Qatar and Norway, at the strong. Industry has been saving energy, but not households enough, to the liking of Economy Minister Robert Habeck, who called on his fellow citizens to question their “old habits“.
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Of course, exports have increased…
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