Berlin  – German exports dropped more than expected in April, data released Tuesday showed, as Europe’s biggest economy battles to emerge from its deepest recession in more than six decades.

The country’s statistics office said exports fell a seasonally- adjusted 4.8 per cent from March, with the decline underscoring the continuing weak state of the global economy.

Economists had predicted Germany would post a more modest fall in exports of 0.1 per cent.

Releasing the data, the Wiesbaden-based statistics office also revised the March figure for exports to a 0.3-per-cent rise compared to a previously estimated 0.7-per-cent increase.

As the world’s export champion, Germany is particularly vulnerable to the sharp contraction in the global economy.

The nation’s central bank, the Bundesbank last week warned that the country’s growth rate would shrink by a dramatic 6.2 per cent this year and stagnate in 2010.

Tuesday’s figures also showed German imports slumping 5.8 per cent in April from March. In addition, the statistics office revised the March imports to a 0.2-per-cent increase from a previously estimated 0.8-per-cent increase.

At the same time, the statistics office said the trade surplus narrowed to 9.4 billion euros (13.1 billion dollars) from 11.3 billion euros.

Germany’s current account surplus also narrowed to 5.8 billion euros from a revised 11.0 billion euros.  (dpa)