Press release No.474 / 2009-12-09

German exports in October 2009: –15.9% on October 2008

WIESBADEN – According to provisional data of the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), Germany exported commodities to the value of Euro 74.6 billion and imported commodities to the value of Euro 61.0 billion in October 2009. Hence, German exports decreased by 15.9% and imports by 15.3% in October 2009 against October 2008. Compared to the previous month, the calendar and seasonally adjusted development of exports and imports showed different trends. While exports climbed 2.5% on September 2009, imports declined 2.4%.

The foreign trade balance showed a surplus of Euro 13.6 billion in October 2009. In October 2008, the surplus amounted to Euro 16.7 billion. Upon calendar and seasonal adjustment, the foreign trade balance recorded a surplus of Euro 12.9 billion in October 2009.

According to provisional results of the Deutsche Bundesbank, the current account of the balance of payments showed a surplus of Euro 11.0 billion in October 2009, which included the balance of services (– Euro 1.4 billion), factor income net (+ Euro 4.8 billion), current transfers (– Euro 5.2 billion), and supplementary trade items (– Euro 0.7 billion). In October 2008, the German current account showed a surplus of Euro 14.9 billion.

In October 2009, Germany dispatched commodities to the value of Euro 46.6 billion to the Member States of the European Union (EU), while it received commodities to the value of Euro 40.6 billion from those countries. Compared with October 2008, dispatches to and arrivals from the EU countries decreased by 16.5% and 11.9%, respectively. Commodities to the value of Euro 31.6 billion (–14.7%) were dispatched to the euro area countries in October 2009, while the value of the commodities received from those countries was Euro 28.6 billion (–10.6%). In October 2009, commodities to the value of Euro 14.9 billion (–20.2%) were dispatched to EU countries not belonging to the euro area, while the value of the commodities which arrived from those countries was Euro 12.0 billion (–15.0%).

Exports of commodities to countries outside the European Union (third countries) amounted to Euro 28.0 billion in October 2009, while imports from those countries amounted to Euro 20.4 billion. Compared with October 2008, exports to third countries decreased by 14.9% and imports from those countries by 21.4%.

Flows of commodities and services in Euro billion
Item	October		September	October	January to October
Item	2009			2008
Discrepancies in the totals are due to rounding.
1 Exports (f.o.b.)	74.6	661.4	69.9	88.7	841.3
2 Imports (c.i.f.)	61.0	555.7	59.5	72.0	680.4
Balance of
3 Foreign trade (1-2)	13.6	105.6	10.4	16.7	161.0
4 Services	–1.4	–18.5	–2.0	–2.1	–14.5
5 Factor income (net)	4.8	33.8	4.6	5.2	35.1
6 Current transfers	–5.2	–30.4	–2.9	–3.8	–30.1
7 Supplementary trade items	–0.7	–9.5	–0.8	–1.0	–9.7
8 Current account (3+4+5+6+7)	11.0	81.0	9.3	14.9	141.9

Groups of countries
Item	October 2009	January to October 2009	Percentage change from
	October 2009	January to October 2009	October 2008	January to October 2008
	Euro billion		%
Total exports	74.6	661.4	–15.9	–21.4
Including:
EU Member States	46.6	418.2	–16.5	–21.9
Euro area	31.6	286.2	–14.7	–18.7
Non-euro area	14.9	132.0	–20.2	–28.1
Third countries	28.0	243.1	–14.9	–20.5
Total imports	61.0	555.7	–15.3	–18.3
Including:
EU Member States	40.6	359.6	–11.9	–17.5
Euro area	28.6	256.1	–10.6	–15.0
Non-euro area	12.0	103.5	–15.0	–22.9
Third countries	20.4	196.1	–21.4	–19.9

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 Euro billion	change on the same month of the previous year in %	value in Euro billion	change on previous month in %	value in Euro billion	change on the same month of the previous year in %	value in Euro billion	change on previous month in %
¹⁾ Using Census X-12-ARIMA.
2008	January	83.3	8.1	84.0	2.7	66.3	8.8	67.8	3.2
	February	83.5	8.0	83.5	–0.6	66.4	4.8	67.7	–0.1
	March	82.8	–0.9	83.3	–0.3	66.0	0.9	67.3	–0.5
	April	88.7	13.1	83.8	0.7	69.7	9.6	67.0	–0.5
	May	79.7	1.5	82.2	–2.0	65.4	6.0	67.2	0.3
	June	87.4	7.2	85.1	3.6	67.6	4.0	67.0	–0.3
	July	86.1	6.1	83.4	–2.0	71.9	13.6	71.1	6.2
	August	74.9	–3.3	83.4	0.0	64.0	1.3	69.3	–2.6
	September	86.3	5.9	84.1	0.8	71.0	12.2	69.8	0.8
	October	88.7	0.2	83.3	–0.9	72.0	3.5	67.5	–3.3
	November	76.1	–12.9	74.3	–10.8	66.1	–2.7	63.4	–6.1
	December	66.7	–8.6	71.5	–3.8	59.4	–5.0	60.4	–4.7
2009	January	63.9	–23.3	66.4	–7.1	56.8	–14.3	59.2	–1.9
	February	63.9	–23.5	65.2	–1.9	55.0	–17.2	56.8	–4.1
	March	69.4	–16.1	65.4	0.4	57.9	–12.3	56.4	–0.7
	April	63.1	–28.9	62.3	–4.8	53.5	–23.3	52.9	–6.2
	May	60.1	–24.6	62.5	0.4	50.4	–22.8	52.2	–1.3
	June	67.3	–23.0	66.5	6.4	54.9	–18.8	54.9	5.2
	July	69.9	–18.8	67.7	1.7	55.6	–22.7	55.0	0.1
	August	59.3	–20.8	65.8	–2.8	51.2	–20.1	55.2	0.5
	September	69.9	–19.0	68.2	3.6	59.5	–16.3	58.4	5.8
	October	74.6	–15.9	69.9	2.5	61.0	–15.3	57.0	–2.4

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