Inhalt
IN FOCUS / 2017-08-17
Trade with Venezuela down 73% since 2011
Venezuela is suffering a severe political and economic crisis which also affects the country's foreign trade. However, the South American country plays a minor role in Germany's foreign trade activity. In 2016, exports to Venezuela amounted to 251 million euros and imports from there to 143 million euros. Venezuela ranked far behind other South American trade partners such as Brazil or Argentina.
In recent years, both exports to and imports from Venezuela have suffered a strong decline. Compared with 2011, foreign trade turnover decreased by 73% in 2016. The development was very similar regarding the major trading goods. For instance, exports of machinery and equipment, which are the most important export goods, declined from 226 million euros in 2011 to 76 million euros in 2016 (-66%).
Regarding imports from Venezuela, mineral fuels (crude oil) were the most important import goods. However, the value of imported fuels, too, has declined markedly over the past five years. It decreased from 564 million euros in 2011 to 96 million euros in 2016 ( 83%).
IN FOCUS / 2017-08-21
68% of the commuter in Germany use the car to get to work
Millions of people in Germany commute from home to work every day. The car is their main means of transport: in 2016, 68% of the commuter used a passenger car to travel to work. In 2000, this proportion was only slightly less at 67%.
Approximately 14% of the people in employment regularly used public means of transport to get to work. This percentage, too, increased by one percentage point compared with 2000.
The majority of people in employment (70%) needed less than 30 minutes to travel to work every day. 22% had a commute of between 30 and 60 minutes, while 5% of the commuter needed one hour or more to get to work. Due to changing places of work, 3% of the people in employment could not give precise information on their commuting time.
IN FOCUS / 2017-08-17
School children and traffic: boys more often harmed in accidents than girls
School has started again after the summer holidays in most German Länder. Therefore, car drivers ought to watch out especially for school children. In 2016, approximately 22,400 children aged 6 to 14 years were harmed in traffic accidents in Germany, 34 were killed. This means that, on average, every 24 minutes a child of that age group was harmed in road traffic.
6 to 14-year-old children rather often had accidents when on their bikes (39% of all accidents). Another 32% were harmed while in a passenger car, 24% while on foot. The risk of being involved in a accident was notably higher for boys than for girls. 67% of the children harmed while cycling were boys, as were 56% of the children who were walking. The reasons may be that boys are out on the roads more often and that they are more ready to take risks.
In 2016, many of the 6 to 14-year-olds on bikes or on foot were harmed at times when they would be on their way to school. In terms of the casualties of the entire day, 16% of these children were injured or killed in the morning between 7 and 8 o'clock.
