Press release No.384 / 2009-10-09

German exports in August 2009: –20.0% on August 2008

WIESBADEN – According to provisional data of the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), Germany exported commodities to the value of EUR 60.4 billion and imported commodities to the value of EUR 52.2 billion in August 2009. Hence, German exports decreased by 20.0% and imports by 19.3% in August 2009 against August 2008. Compared with the previous month, exports and imports experienced diverging trends when adjusted for calendar and seasonal variations. While exports decreased by 1.8% on July 2009, imports increased by 1.1%.

The foreign trade balance showed a surplus of EUR 8.1 billion in August 2009. In August 2008, the surplus had amounted to EUR 10.8 billion. Upon calendar and seasonal adjustment, the foreign trade balance recorded a surplus of EUR 10.6 billion in August 2009.

According to provisional results of the Deutsche Bundesbank, the current account of the balance of payments showed a surplus of EUR 4.6 billion in August 2009, which included the balance of services (– EUR 4.3 billion), factor income net (+ EUR 4.7 billion), current transfers (– EUR 3.1 billion), and supplementary trade items (– EUR 0.8 billion). In August 2008, the German current account had shown a surplus of EUR 8.1 billion.

In August 2009, Germany dispatched commodities to the value of EUR 37.9 billion to the Member States of the European Union (EU), while it received commodities to the value of EUR 33.8 billion from those countries. Compared with August 2008, dispatches to and arrivals from the EU countries decreased by 19.3% and 16.8%, respectively. Commodities to the value of EUR 25.2 billion (–17.6%) were dispatched to the euro area countries in August 2009, while the value of the commodities received from those countries was EUR 23.9 billion (–15.8%). In August 2009, commodities to the value of EUR 12.7 billion (–22.5%) were dispatched to EU countries not belonging to the euro area, while the value of the commodities which arrived from those countries was EUR 9.9 billion (–19.2%).

Exports of commodities to countries outside the European Union (third countries) amounted to EUR 22.5 billion in August 2009, while imports from those countries amounted to EUR 18.5 billion. Compared with August 2008, exports to third countries decreased by 21.2% and imports from those countries by 23.3%.

Flows of commodities and services in EUR billion
Item	August		July	August	January to August
Item	2009			2008
Discrepancies in the totals are due to rounding.
1 Exports (f.o.b.)	60.4	522.1	70.5	75.5	672.1
2 Imports (c.i.f.)	52.2	442.2	56.4	64.7	542.6
Balance of
3 Foreign trade (1-2)	8.1	80.0	14.1	10.8	129.5
4 Services	–4.3	–15.0	–3.2	–2.9	–10.8
5 Factor income (net)	4.7	24.5	4.5	4.6	24.7
6 Current transfers	–3.1	–22.3	–2.7	–3.3	–23.5
7 Supplementary trade items	–0.8	–8.0	–1.2	–1.0	–8.0
8 Current account (3+4+5+6+7)	4.6	59.2	11.4	8.1	111.9

Groups of countries
Item	August 2009	January to August 2009	Percentage change from
	August 2009	January to August 2009	August 2008	January to August 2008
	EUR billion		%
Total exports	60.4	522.1	–20.0	–22.3
Including:
EU Member States	37.9	330.8	–19.3	–23.1
Euro area	25.2	227.1	–17.6	–21.5
Non-euro area	12.7	103.7	–22.5	–26.4
Third countries	22.5	191.4	–21.2	–20.9
Total imports	52.2	442.2	–19.3	–18.5
Including:
EU Member States	33.8	287.9	–16.8	–17.8
Euro area	23.9	205.8	–15.8	–17.2
Non-euro area	9.9	82.1	–19.2	–19.5
Third countries	18.5	154.2	–23.3	–19.7

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 billion	change on the same month of the pre-vious year in %	value in EUR billion	change on previous month in %	value in EUR billion	change on the same month of the pre-vious year in %	value in EUR billion	change on previous month in %
¹⁾ Using Census X-12-ARIMA.
2008	January	84.0	9.0	84.7	3.5	66.7	9.6	68.2	4.0
	February	84.3	9.0	84.3	–0.5	67.2	6.1	68.4	0.3
	March	83.5	0.0	84.0	–0.3	66.8	2.1	68.1	–0.5
	April	89.5	14.1	84.5	0.5	70.5	10.8	67.7	–0.6
	May	80.5	2.4	82.9	–1.9	66.0	7.0	67.8	0.1
	June	88.1	8.1	85.8	3.5	68.0	4.5	67.3	–0.7
	July	86.8	7.0	84.1	–2.0	72.8	15.0	72.0	7.0
	August	75.5	–2.5	84.1	0.0	64.7	2.3	70.0	–2.7
	September	87.0	6.8	84.8	0.8	71.8	13.5	70.6	0.8
	October	89.4	1.1	84.0	–0.9	72.8	4.5	68.2	–3.4
	November	76.8	–12.2	75.0	–10.8	66.9	–1.6	64.1	–6.0
	December	67.2	–7.9	72.0	–3.9	60.0	–4.1	61.0	–4.8
2009	January	64.5	–23.3	67.0	–6.9	57.6	–13.6	60.1	–1.5
	February	64.5	–23.5	65.8	–1.9	55.8	–16.9	57.7	–4.0
	March	70.0	–16.2	66.0	0.4	58.7	–12.0	57.2	–0.8
	April	63.7	–28.8	62.8	–4.8	54.3	–23.0	53.7	–6.2
	May	60.7	–24.6	63.1	0.4	51.2	–22.4	53.0	–1.3
	June	67.9	–22.9	67.1	6.4	55.8	–17.9	55.8	5.2
	July	70.5	–18.7	68.3	1.7	56.4	–22.5	55.8	0.1
	August	60.4	–20.0	67.0	–1.8	52.2	–19.3	56.4	1.1

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