Germany's trade surplus unexpectedly widened to a record high in October, as exports posted a surprise jump led by robust demand from outside the European Union, Federal Statistics Office data showed on Friday.

Adjusted for seasonal swings, the surplus rose to 17.2 billion euros ($22.86 billion) from 15.0 billion in September, the Office said. The October figure was the highest since German re-unification 1990, an Office spokesman said.

The mid-range forecast of economists polled by Reuters last week was for the trade surplus to narrow to 13.4 billion euros in seasonally adjusted terms.

Compared with the previous month, exports rose by 2.6 percent in adjusted terms, after a 6.5 percent surge in September. Imports were down by 0.2 percent on the month.

The Office spokesman said all goods categories had seen a sharp increase in exports in October.

Analysts had expected exports to dip by 2.0 percent month-on-month and imports to fall by 0.8 percent.

In unadjusted terms, exports were up by 22.6 percent compared with October 2005, which was the biggest rise since the start of 2001, the spokesman said. Imports rose by 17.6 percent.

A breakdown of the export figures for October showed that demand was particularly strong outside the euro zone. Exports to non-euro zone EU countries like Britain rose by 20.5 percent on the year. To non-EU countries they were up by 31.2 percent.

Exports to other euro zone countries rose by 16.3 percent.

During the first ten months of 2006, exports were up by 13.8 percent compared with the same period a year earlier. Imports were up by 17.7 percent.