Press release No.214 / 2009-06-09

German exports in April 2009: –28.7% on April 2008

WIESBADEN – According to provisional data of the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), Germany exported commodities to the value of EUR 63.8 billion and imported commodities to the value of EUR 54.4 billion in April 2009. German exports of April 2009 were thus 28.7% and imports 22.9% below the respective April 2008 levels. Upon calendar and seasonal adjustment, exports decreased by 4.8% and imports by 5.8% on March 2009.

The foreign trade balance showed a surplus of EUR 9.4 billion in April 2009. Upon calendar and seasonal adjustment, the foreign trade balance recorded a surplus of EUR 9.0 billion. In April 2008, the surplus had amounted to EUR 19.0 billion.

According to provisional results of the Deutsche Bundesbank, the current account of the balance of payments showed a surplus of EUR 5.8 billion in April 2009, which included the balance of services (EUR –0.7 billion), factor income (net) (EUR +0.1 billion), current transfers (EUR –2.5 billion) and supplementary trade items (EUR –0.6 billion). In April 2008, the German current account showed a surplus of EUR 15.4 billion.

In April 2009, Germany dispatched commodities to the value of EUR 40.5 billion to the Member States of the European Union (EU), while it received commodities to the value of EUR 35.6 billion from those countries. Compared with April 2008, dispatches to and arrivals from the EU countries decreased by 29.9% and 22.3%, respectively. Commodities to the value of EUR 27.8 billion (–28.8%) were dispatched to the euro area countries in April 2009, while the value of commodities received from those countries was EUR 25.3 billion (–21.8%). Commodities to the value of EUR 12.6 billion (–32.2%) were dispatched to EU countries not belonging to the euro area in April 2009, while the value of the commodities which arrived from those countries was EUR 10.2 billion (–3.7%).

Exports of commodities to countries outside the European Union (third countries) amounted to EUR 23.4 billion in April 2009, while imports from those countries amounted to EUR 18.8 billion. Compared with April 2008, exports to third countries decreased by 26.5%, and imports from those countries by 23.8%.

Flows of commodities and services in EUR bn
Item	April		March	April	January to April
Item	2009			2008
Discrepancies in the totals are due to rounding.
1 Exports (f.o.b.)	63.8	262.8	70.0	89.5	341.3
2 Imports (c.i.f.)	54.4	226.6	58.7	70.5	271.2
Balance of
3 Foreign trade (1-2)	+9.4	+36.2	+11.3	+19.0	+70.2
4 Services	–0.7	–4.4	–0.7	–0.2	–1.1
5 Factor income (net)	+0.1	+13.5	+5.0	–0.6	+14.2
6 Current transfers	–2.5	–15.7	–3.6	–1.9	–14.1
7 Supplementary trade items	–0.6	–3.7	–0.9	–0.9	–4.1
8 Current account (3+4+5+6+7)	+5.8	+25.9	+11.0	+15.4	+65.0

Groups of countries
Item	April 2009	January to April 2009	Percentage change from
	April 2009	January to April 2009	April 2008	January to April 2008
	EUR bn		%
Total exports	63.8	262.8	–28.7	–23.0
Including:
EU Member States	40.5	167.8	–29.9	–23.9
Euro-zone	27.8	116.3	–28.8	–22.2
Non-euro-zone	12.6	51.5	–32.2	–27.5
Third countries	23.4	95.0	–26.5	–21.4
Total imports	54.4	226.6	–22.9	–16.4
Including:
EU Member States	35.6	146.6	–22.3	–16.5
Euro-zone	25.3	105.3	–21.8	–15.5
Non-euro-zone	10.2	41.3	–23.7	–19.1
Third countries	18.8	80.0	–23.8	–16.3

Foreign trade (special trade)
Exports and imports
Original values/calendar and seasonally adjusted values ¹⁾
Year	Month	Exports				Imports
		original value		calendar and seasonally adjusted value ¹⁾		original value		calendar and seasonally adjusted value ¹⁾
		value in EUR bn	change on the same month of the pre-vious year in %	value in EUR bn	change on previous month in %	value in EUR bn	change on the same month of the pre-vious year in %	value in EUR bn	change on previous month in %
¹⁾ Using Census X-12-ARIMA.
2008	January	84.0	+9.0	84.5	+3.1	66.7	+9.6	68.2	+3.8
	February	84.3	+9.0	84.5	+0.1	67.2	+6.1	67.9	–0.5
	March	83.5	+0.0	84.2	–0.4	66.8	+2.1	68.2	+0.4
	April	89.5	+14.1	84.6	+0.5	70.5	+10.8	67.9	–0.4
	May	80.5	+2.4	82.7	–2.2	66.0	+7.0	67.6	–0.4
	June	88.1	+8.1	85.4	+3.3	68.0	+4.5	67.4	–0.2
	July	86.8	+7.0	84.2	–1.4	72.8	+15.0	72.0	+6.8
	August	75.5	–2.5	84.0	–0.3	64.7	+2.3	70.1	–2.7
	September	87.0	+6.8	84.7	+0.8	71.8	+13.5	70.8	+1.0
	October	89.4	+1.1	84.2	–0.6	72.8	+4.5	68.2	–3.7
	November	76.8	–12.2	75.1	–10.8	66.9	–1.6	64.2	–5.8
	December	67.2	–7.9	72.1	–4.0	60.0	–4.1	61.1	–4.8
2009	January	64.5	–23.3	66.8	–7.4	57.6	–13.6	60.0	–1.7
	February	64.5	–23.5	66.0	–1.2	55.8	–16.9	57.1	–4.9
	March	70.0	–16.2	66.2	+0.3	58.7	–12.0	57.3	+0.2
	April	63.8	–28.7	63.0	–4.8	54.4	–22.9	53.9	–5.8

>>> Brief methodological description

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