German Economy: Exports To UK Decrease In 2019 Amid Brexit Uncertainty

Germany’s exports to the U.K. fell about 4%, in the first 11 months of 2019, as the U.K. continued its negotiations to leave the European Union, the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce said Monday.

Eric Schweitzer, President of the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce, said that the U.K. has fallen from Germany’s fifth most important trading partner to its seventh amid the Brexit uncertainty.

Reuters on Monday cited an economist who said Germany's economy would likely expand by 0.2% in the first quarter after it likely grew by 0.1% in the fourth quarter.

Germany, which has a GDP of $3.86 billion, is Europe's largest economy and is heavily influenced by global trade tensions. The U.S.-China trade war, for example, has hurt German automakers selling to China.

The German economy has only narrowly managed to avoid recession in 2019, with GDP growing only 0.1% in the third quarter of the year and contracting 0.1% in the second quarter. If Germany experiences two straight quarters of GDP decline, the country will be in a technical recession.

Economists have long said that Germany could face economic problems due to British political uncertainty. In 2017, the U.K. saw over €85 billion ($93.6 billion) worth of goods shipped from Germany. A study in 2019 noted that Germany could lose about €10 billion ($11 billion) per year because of Brexit.

The U.K. officially leaves the EU on Friday.