German exports increased slightly in March compared to February, official data showed on Friday.

Upon calendar and seasonal adjustment, German exports in March increased by 0.5 percent compared with the previous month, when exports decreased by 1.2 percent. During the same period, imports rose by 0.8 percent, the German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) said.

In March 2013, Germany exported commodities worth 91.4 billion euros (119 billion U.S. dollars), and imported goods worth 73.8 billion euros, resulting in a foreign trade surplus of 17.6 billion euros.

On Friday, the Wiesbaden-based Destatis said the manufacturing sector saw its turnover rise in real terms 1.7 percent in March compared with February on the basis of provisional data. This follows a month-on-month increase of 0.2 percent in February.

In March, domestic turnover increased by 1.8 percent, business with foreign customers rose 1.7 percent, among which sales to countries out of eurozone went up by 3.1 percent. Sales to the common currency area, however, were 0.2 percent below the preceding month's level.

The German economy is expected to recover from its contraction at the end of last year when GDP declined by 0.6 percent. According to official forecasts, German GDP is to grow by 0.5 percent in 2013 and by 1.6 percent in 2014, with domestic demand, instead of exports, as the main growth engine.