German exports to Arab states grow, Arab exports to Germany drop

German exports to the Arab states grew by 12.2 percent totalling 9.7 billion deutschemarks (DM) during the first half of this year compared to the same period last year, the German Economy ministry said in a statement released here on Friday.

Taking a contrary trend, the total Arab exports to Germany dropped by 4.9 percent or to 5 billion DM compared to 5.2 billion during the first half of last year.

Arab oil exports topped the list amounting to 2.2 billion DM in the first half of this year.

Arab-German trade increased to over 4.7 billion DM in the first half of this year compared to 3.4 billion DM during the same period last year.

The statement said that Germany imported during the first half of this year 14.5 million tons of Arab crude oil, or 28.1 percent of total German oil imports.

Saudi Arabia topped the list of Arab states involved in trade exchanges with Germany. This is followed by the United Arab Emirates and Egypt.