Trade-reliant Germany suffers biggest ever plunge in exports

German exports plunged at a record pace in April when economies around the world shut down to contain the coronavirus.

Sales abroad were down 31.1% from a year earlier, an unprecedented slump in the series that reaches back to 1950. Imports fell the most since the financial crisis a decade ago.

Europe’s largest economy is widely seen to have weathered the fallout of the pandemic better than most in the region, and the government has already announced a major stimulus package to revive growth. But the economy’s reliance on external demand for German goods adds another layer of uncertainty to how fast it can recover.

German manufacturers were already suffering from weak demand before the virus outbreak forced businesses to shutter. While most companies have since returned to work, uncertainty about the evolution of the pandemic is still depressing orders. The Bundesbank predicts Germany’s trade-reliant economy will shrink some 7% this year.

First-quarter data already provided a taste of the virus damage. In the euro area, consumer spending dropped 4.7% in the period, while investment and exports also fell more than 4%, according to updated figures published Tuesday. The economy shrank 3.6%, slightly less than initially reported, but still the steepest drop on record.

With uncertainty about the path of the pandemic damping confidence, trade will remain subdued for a long time still.

In April, German shipments to China, the original epicenter of the disease, were down 12.6%. Within Europe, sales to France and Italy dropped 48% and 40% respectively.