Wiesbaden, Germany  - German exports continued their drastic decline in February, with a year-on-year drop of 23.1 per cent, as the global recession continued to take its toll on the German economy, data released Wednesday showed.

Exports reached a total of 64.8 billion euros (85.4 billion dollars), the National Office for Statistics said. Imports also fell by 16.4 per cent, to a total of 56.2 billion euros.

Seasonally adjusted exports fell by 0.7 per cent compared to the previous month, while imports dropped by 4.2 per cent.

The year-on-year trade surplus fell to 8.7 billion euros, compared to the previous year's figure of 17.1 billion euros. The trade balance in January stood at 7 billion euros. Taking seasonal adjustments into account, the trade surplus was slightly up at 8.9 billion euros for February.

The current account balance, which takes into account services and cash transfers as well as exports, recorded a surplus of 5.6 billion euros in February. This compares to a surplus of 16.5 billion euros in February 2008. (dpa)