Exports by the German electrical and electronic industry in May decreased by 21.2 percent year-on-year to 13.5 billion euros (15.5 billion U.S. dollars) due to COVID-19, the German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association (ZVEI) announced on Monday.

"The decline was thus more or less the same as in April," said ZVEI chief economist Andreas Gontermann.

According to ZVEI, exports to industrialized countries and emerging markets fell "equally sharply" in May, by minus 21.3 percent and minus 21 percent respectively compared to last year.

Exports to China, the largest market of Germany's electrical and electronic industry, only fell slightly in May, decreasing by 1.3 percent year-on-year to 1.8 billion euros.

This decline was "somewhat unexpected" as deliveries to China had already recovered by almost 18 percent in April, according to Gontermann.

Nevertheless, the German electrical and electronic industry's cumulative exports to China between January to May amounted to 9.1 billion euros, which was 4.8 percent higher than the corresponding figure for the previous year.

Electrical deliveries to the U.S., the second largest market, continued to fall sharply in May. According to ZVEI, the losses were "again significantly higher" than in the previous month, with a 38.0-percent drop in May compared to the previous year to 1.1 billion euros.

At 12.9 billion euros, imports of electrical and electronic products to Germany in May were 14.1 percent below the previous year's figure, according to ZVEI. (1 euro =1.15 U.S. dollars)

Source: Xinhua