German exports hit record levels last year, helping the trade surplus to its highest level since unification. Despite the strong euro, German exports in 2006 were 14% higher than 2005 at 893.6bn euros ($1.2 trillion; �590bn).
German imports also rose, by 16.5% to 731.7bn, but that still left a record annual trade surplus of 161.9bn euros.
One of the big contributors was luxury car maker BMW, which sold a record 127,000 vehicles in Asia last year, up 14% from the previous year.
"The BMW Group grew more strongly in Asia than in any other region," said the firm's sales and marketing chief, Michael Ganal.
BMW is about to open its plant in Chennai in southern India, which will be its fifth production facility in Asia.
But it is not all good news for the German economy. The strength of the euro against the dollar started to bite in December, when the trade surplus narrowed sharply to 10.8bn euros from November's record 18.3bn.
Month on month, imports rose at their strongest rate for a year, while exports fell for the second month in a row, Federal Statistics Office data indicated.
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