国际英语新闻：German exports surge 18.5 percent in 2010

BERLIN, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- German exports surged 18.5 percent and imports rose 20 percent in 2010 over the previous year due to a solid recovery powered by strong global and domestic demand, official data showed Wednesday.

The Wiesbaden-based Federal Statistical Office said Germany exported 951.9 billion euros (1.3 trillion dollars) worth of goods and services last year, and its imports reached 797.6 billion euros.

Boosted exports made the country's trade surplus jump to 154.3 billion euros in 2010, from 138.7 billion in 2009, the office said.

Germany, the world's second-largest exporter after China, registered a stunning 3.6-percent growth last year, the fastest in two decades. Due to climbing global demand and warming domestic market, the country's exports bounced back from the financial crisis and withstood the impact of the European sovereign debt crisis.

Within the European Union (EU), German exports surged 14 percent to 570.6 billion euros, while imports rose 17.5 percent.

Shipments to non-European countries also climbed 26 percent last year, with the United States, China, and some other emerging economies as major destinations. Imports from outside the EU also grew 24.7 percent.

In the eurozone, Germany dispatched commodities worth 386.2 billion euros, up 12.7 percent from 2009. Imports from these countries gained 16.7 percent.

In December however, seasonally-adjusted exports rose only 0.5 percent month on month. Analysts had predicted that the increase would hit 1 percent. Imports in that month also dropped 2.3 percent, reversing a 4.1 percent rise in November.

On a yearly basis, December's exports jumped 21 percent and imports up 26.8 percent.