Sanctions hit home on Europe’s economic engine room in August as German exports to Russia tumbled by more than a quarter year on year, figures showed today.
The sharpest annual fall since 2009 in the immediate aftermath of the financial crisis underlines the impact of trade restrictions on the German economy, which shrank 0.2% between April and June and is veering close to sinking back into recession.
Exports to Russia in August were worth €2.3 billion (£1.4 billion), a 26.3% drop against the same month a year earlier, the Germany’s statistics office said. For the January-August period, exports fell 16.6% to €20.3 billion.
German shipments to Russia had already shrunk 5.2% in 2013, having seen high growth rates from 2010-2012.
In the first eight months of the year, machinery made up 22.6% of total shipments to Russia, followed by cars and car parts with 19% and chemical products with 10%.
The sharpest drop in exports between January and August was for cars — down 27.3% — followed by machinery, which dropped 17.2%, and chemicals, down 5.9%.
