By Maria Martinez
July 9 (Reuters) - German exports rose unexpectedly in May, driven by a sharp increase in exports to the United States, data showed on Thursday.
German exports increased by 0.9% compared with the previous month, according to data from the federal statistics office.
The result compared with a 0.3% decrease forecast in a Reuters poll.
"Foreign trade is holding up surprisingly well in times of geopolitical tensions and the war in the Middle East," Volker Treier, head of foreign trade at
the German Chamber of Commerce DIHK, said.
Exports to the U.S., Germany's top export destination, rose 23.1% on the month.
"Exports are being helped by the fact that the U.S. economy continues to steam ahead," Alexander Krueger, chief economist at ABN Amro Germany, said.
Treier welcomed the increase in exports to the U.S., but warned that the path ahead for German exporters remains "extremely bumpy".
Exports to China increased by 7.1% on the month.
EXPORTS UP, IMPORTS DOWN
Imports were down 2.5% on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis.
Falling imports are now reversing the net trade drag that has weighed on gross domestic product over the past 12 to 18 months, Claus Vistesen, chief euro zone economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said.
The foreign trade balance showed a surplus of €19.1 billion in May, up from €14.7 billion in April.
Exports to EU countries dropped by 1.1% on the month, while exports of goods to countries outside the EU increased by 3.6%.
"The world continues to buy German products," Dirk Jandura, president of the BGA trade association, said. "But global trade is becoming more volatile, more political and more fiercely contested."
(Additional reporting by Basile Day in Gdansk and Rene Wagner in Berlin. Editing by Linda Pasquini and Andrew Heavens)
