Germany as an export nation
Results of input-output accounts on the interlinkage of the German economy with other countries
Destatis, 15 February 2008
Germany is the export world champion. This headline appeared in many newspapers over the last few months. But did you know that, for instance in 2005, just seven types of goods accounted for half of German foreign trade?
The top import and export products
Motor vehicles, machinery and equipment and chemical products alone accounted for one third of German foreign trade between 1995 and 2005. This is shown by data of input-output accounts which present the entire foreign trade, that is the total of imports and exports, in a breakdown by 59 types of goods and services.
The above-mentioned and four other types of goods – iron and steel, food, electrical and communication equipment – covered about half of German exports. The most important services in foreign trade were business services, transport services and data processing. However, together they accounted for markedly less than 10 percent of total German foreign trade.
Jobs depending on exports
More and more persons in employment in Germany work for customers abroad. Almost every fourth depends on exports today. A good ten years ago, it was approximately every seventh.
If we examine, for instance, motor vehicles – which are the main top export product –, we will see that most employees depending on exports do not work directly for motor vehicle production, but indirectly in service branches. This includes transport, wholesale, and business services such as advertising and consultancy. Let’s take a look at the figures:
508,000 people out of the total of 1,372,000 employees depending on motor vehicle exports worked direct in the production of motor vehicles, and as many as 274,000 persons produced goods that entered motor vehicle production as intermediate goods, such as seat covers, paints, or energy. What is striking, however, is the above-mentioned large number of 590,000 persons in employment working in service branches for motor vehicle exports.
Consequences of the energy price rise
The high oil and petrol prices are also widely discussed. Most affected are households, which participate in the market as final consumers and have to bear the rising production costs by paying the final prices.
Import price statistics shows a 40% price rise for mineral oil and natural gas from 2004 to 2005 and a 36% price increase for imports of mineral oil products. Without that increase in import prices, the prices of goods consumed by households in the domestic territory would have been lower by 0.8%, the value trend of government consumption by 0.3%, and prices of capital formation in construction by 0.5%.
Author:
Peter Bleses - Federal Statistical Office Germany
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