Exports rose 2.7 percent from January to a calendar- and seasonally-adjusted 84 billion euros ($121 billion), the Destatis statistics office said, while imports were 3.7 percent higher at 71.9 billion euros.

The trade surplus slipped to 12.1 billion euros from 12.7 billion euros a year earlier.

Economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast a slightly higher surplus of 12.5 billion euros.

In January, German exports declined 1.0 percent while imports rose 3.7 percent, Destatis said, revising the import figure from an initial estimate of 2.3 percent for Europe's biggest economy.

On a 12-month basis, exports rose 21 percent in February, while imports were 27 percent higher.

Germany's current account surplus, a broader measure of trade in goods and services, fell to 8.9 billion euros in February on an unadjusted basis from 10.2 billion euros a year earlier, Destatis said.

That was well below an analyst forecast of 12 billion euros.

Commerzbank economist Ulrike Rondorf noted that demand for German products was still high and added: "The export boom should continue over the year, given that the global economy will probably grow at a similarly strong rate in 2011 to last year, at 4.3 percent."

Germany, the world's second biggest exporter after China, was not dependent on Asia, Rondorf said, and exports "together with investment in machinery and equipment will remain the main driver of strong growth in Germany this year."

Commerzbank forecast German economic growth of 3.0 percent in 2011, compared with a government estimate of 2.3 percent that could be revised next week.

On Thursday, leading German economic institutes said they expected the economy to expand by 2.8 percent this year.