Press release No.045 / 2010-02-09

Total exports declining 18.4% in 2009on 2008

For the first time since October 2008, however, December 2009 exports were again above the level of the same month a year earlier

WIESBADEN – According to provisional data of the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), Germany exported commodities to the value of Euro 803.2. billion and imported commodities to the value of Euro 667.1 billion in 2009. German exports in 2009 thus were 18.4% and imports 17.2% below the respective 2008 levels. This was the highest decline recorded in foreign trade in relation to both imports and exports since 1950.
As regards the world’s top exporting nations, Germany as the largest exporter was overtaken by China in 2009. According to information of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, Chinese exports amounted to US $ 1,201.7 billion, while German exports totalled US $ 1,121.3 billion in that year.

The foreign trade balance showed a surplus of Euro 136.1 billion in 2009. In 2008, the foreign trade balance showed a surplus of Euro 178.3 billion.

According to provisional results of the Deutsche Bundesbank, the current account of the balance of payments showed a surplus of Euro 119.4 billion in 2009, which included the balance of services (Euro –15.8 billion), factor income (net) (Euro –43.3 billion), current transfers (Euro –33.0 billion) and supplementary trade items (Euro –11.3 billion). In 2008, the German current account showed a surplus of Euro 165.2 billion.

In 2009, Germany dispatched commodities to the value of Euro 503.5 billion to the Member States of the European Union, while it received commodities to the value of Euro 431.0 billion from those countries. Compared with 2008, dispatches to and arrivals from the EU countries decreased by 19.1% and 15.9%, respectively. Commodities to the value of Euro 344.9 billion (–16.1%) were dispatched to the euro-zone countries in 2009, while the value of commodities received from those countries was Euro 306.5 billion (–13.6%). Commodities to the value of Euro 158.7 billion (–25.0%) were dispatched to EU countries not belonging to the euro area in 2009, while the value of the commodities which arrived from those countries was Euro 124.5 billion (–21.1%).

Germany exported commodities to the value of Euro 299.7 billion to and imported commodities to the value of Euro 236.1 billion from countries outside the European Union (third countries) in 2009. Compared with 2008, exports to third countries decreased by 17.1%, and imports from those countries by 19.4%.

In December 2009, Germany exported commodities to the value of Euro 69.0 billion. For the first time since October 2008, exports were thus again above the level of the same month a year earlier. Compared with December 2008, exports increased by 3.4%. As regards imports, Germany imported commodities to the value of Euro 55.5 billion in December 2009, which was a 6.5% decline on December 2008.
Upon calendar and seasonal adjustment, exports increased by 3.0% and imports by 4.5% in December 2009 on November 2009.

Flows of commodities and services in Euro bilion
Item	December		November	December	January to December
Item	2009			2008
Discrepancies in the totals are due to rounding.
1 Exports (f.o.b.--free on board)	69.0	803.2	73.4	66.7	984.1
2 Imports (c.i.f.--cost insurance freight)	55.5	667.1	56.2	59.4	805.8
Balance of
3 Foreign trade (1-2)	13.5	136.1	17.2	7.3	178.3
4 Services	2.2	–15.8	0.5	1.8	–12.7
5 Factor income (net)	4.4	43.3	5.0	4.6	44.7
6 Current transfers	1.3	–33.0	–3.9	0.8	–33.1
7 Supplementary trade items	–0.8	–11.3	–0.9	–0.7	–12.1
8 Current account (3+4+5+6+7)	20.6	119.4	17.8	13.9	165.2

Groups of countries
Item	December 2009	January to December 2009	Percentage change from
	December 2009	January to December 2009	December 2008	January to December 2008
	Euro billion		%
Total exports	69.0	803.2	3.4	–18.4
Including:
EU Member States	41.7	503.5	4.5	–19.1
Euro area	28.7	344.9	5.0	–16.1
Non-euro area	13.0	158.7	3.4	–25.0
Third countries	27.3	299.7	1.8	–17.1
Total imports	55.5	667.1	–6.5	–17.2
Including:
EU Member States	35.6	431.0	–2.6	–15.9
Euro area	25.1	306.5	–2.8	–13.6
Non-euro area	10.5	124.5	–2.3	–21.1
Third countries	19.9	236.1	–12.7	–19.4

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 pre-vious year in %	value in Euro billion	change on previous month in %	value in Euro billion	change on the same month of the pre-vious 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	–18.7	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	74.1	–16.4	69.4	1.9	60.7	–15.8	56.7	–2.9
	November	73.4	–3.6	70.2	1.1	56.2	–15.1	53.2	–6.2
	December	69.0	3.4	72.3	3.0	55.5	–6.5	55.6	4.

>>> Brief methodological description

For further information please call:
Dirk Mohr,
tel: +49 611 75 2475,

E-mail: info-aussenhandel@destatis.de

For more details please refer to the German version.

Contact:
tel: (+49-611)75-3444
fax: (+49-611)75-3976
presse@destatis.de
www.destatis.de

Service hours:
Mon - Tue: 8am - 5pm
Fri: 8am - 3pm
CET / CEST

Postal address:
65180 Wiesbaden
Germany

Maximize content (Accesskey 3)