(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-03-05 00:13

BERLIN -- German exports to the United States fell sharply in the final quarter of last year largely due to a strong euro, statistics showed Tuesday.

German exports to the United States dropped 12.9 percent in the last quarter of 2007, compared to the same period in the previous year, the Wiesbaden-based Federal Statistics Office said in a report Tuesday.

The decline was the largest in four years, it said.

Overall last year, German exports to the United States dropped by 5.9 percent, it said.

The strong euro, which has been hovering on a record high of around 1.52 US dollars, has made it harder for Germany, the world's biggest export nation, to sell its products to key markets outside the European Union like the United States and Japan, analysts say.