Germany’s current account surplus shrank for the fifth year in a row in 2020 as China overtook Europe’s biggest economy during the current global pandemic to run the world’s largest current account surplus, a survey by the Ifo institute showed on Friday 22 January 2021.
The data underlines a tectonic shift in world trade triggered by the coronavirus crisis as higher demand across the globe for medical protection gear and electronic devices boosted Chinese exports.
The Munich-based Ifo institute said China’s current account surplus, which measures the flow of goods, services and investments, more than doubled to $310 billion last year.
Germany’s current account surplus shrank to $261 billion in 2020 as demand for cars, machinery and equipment fell in many of its key export markets, the survey showed. Japan came in third with a current account surplus of $158 billion.
Measured in relation to economic output, however, Germany’s current account surplus remained unusually high at 6.9% last year, edging down only slightly from 7.1% in 2019.
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