Press release No. 045 of 9 February 2017
WIESBADEN – Germany exported goods to the value of 1,207.5 billion euros and imported goods to the value of 954.6 billion euros in 2016. Based on provisional data, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that German exports increased by 1.2% and imports by 0.6% in 2016 compared with 2015. Exports and imports in 2016 exceeded the previous record highs of 2015, when goods to the value of 1,193.6 billion euros had been exported and goods to the value of 949.2 billion euros had been imported.
The foreign trade balance showed a surplus of 252.9 billion euros in 2016, which was the highest value ever recorded. It clearly exceeded the previous peak of 244.3 billion euros achieved in 2015.
According to provisional results of the Deutsche Bundesbank, the current account of the balance of payments showed a surplus of 266.0 billion euros in 2016, which takes into account the balances of trade in goods including supplementary trade items (+271.5 billion euros), services (–28.3 billion euros), primary income (+63.2 billion euros) and secondary income (–40.5 billion euros). In 2015, the German current account showed a surplus of 252.6 billion euros.
In 2016, Germany exported goods to the value of 707.9 billion euros to the Member States of the European Union (EU), while it imported goods to the value of 632.5 billion euros from those countries. Compared with 2015, exports to the EU countries increased by 2.2%, and imports from those countries by 1.8%. Goods to the value of 441.8 billion euros (+1.8%) were dispatched to the Euro area countries in 2016, while the value of the goods received from those countries was 428.9 billion euros (+0.7%). In 2016, goods to the value of 266.1 billion euros (+2.8%) were exported to EU countries not belonging to the Euro area, while the value of the goods imported from those countries was 203.6 billion euros (+4.1%).
Exports of goods to countries outside the European Union (third countries) amounted to 499.6 billion euros in 2016, while imports from those countries totalled 322.1 billion euros. Compared with 2015, exports to third countries decreased by 0.2% and imports from those countries by 1.7%.
In December 2016, Germany exported goods to the value of 97.4 billion euros (+6.3% compared with December 2015) and imported goods to the value of 78.7 billion euros (+7.4%).
After calendar and seasonal adjustment, exports declined by 3.3% on November 2016, while imports remained unchanged compared with the previous month.
| Item | December | January to December | November | December | January to December |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 2015 | ||||
| 1 According to calculations of the Deutsche Bundesbank. | |||||
| Foreign trade | |||||
| 1 Exports (f.o.b.) | 97.4 | 1,207.5 | 108.5 | 91.6 | 1,193.6 |
| 2 Imports (c.i.f.) | 78.7 | 954.6 | 85.8 | 73.3 | 949.2 |
| 3 Foreign trade balance (1-2) | 18.7 | 252.9 | 22.7 | 18.4 | 244.3 |
| Transition to trade in goods 1 | |||||
| 4 Supplementary trade items | –1.4 | 18.6 | 1.4 | –0.4 | 15.3 |
| Current account balances 1 | |||||
| 5 Trade in goods (3+4) | 17.3 | 271.5 | 24.1 | 18.0 | 259.6 |
| 6 Services | –0.1 | –28.3 | –0.9 | 0.9 | –31.2 |
| 7 Primary income | 10.9 | 63.2 | 5.8 | 11.2 | 63.7 |
| 8 Secondary income | –4.1 | –40.5 | –4.0 | –4.5 | –39.5 |
| Current account (5+6+7+8) | 24.0 | 266.0 | 25.0 | 25.6 | 252.6 |
| Item | December 2016 | January to December 2016 | Percentage change from | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 2015 | January to December 2015 | |||
| billion euro | % | |||
| Results in accordance with the EU concept (by country of consignment) | ||||
| Total exports | 97.4 | 1,207.5 | 6.3 | 1.2 |
| including: | ||||
| EU Member States | 54.1 | 707.9 | 5.2 | 2.2 |
| Euro-zone | 34.3 | 441.8 | 6.6 | 1.8 |
| Non-euro-zone | 19.8 | 266.1 | 2.8 | 2.8 |
| Third countries | 43.3 | 499.6 | 7.7 | –0.2 |
| Total imports | 78.7 | 954.6 | 7.4 | 0.6 |
| including: | ||||
| EU Member States | 51.6 | 632.5 | 7.6 | 1.8 |
| Euro-zone | 35.2 | 428.9 | 7.1 | 0.7 |
| Non-euro-zone | 16.4 | 203.6 | 8.6 | 4.1 |
| Third countries | 27.0 | 322.1 | 7.1 | –1.7 |
| Year | Month | Exports | Imports | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| original value | calendar and seasonally adjusted value 1 | original value | calendar and seasonally adjusted value 1 | ||||||
| value in billion euros | change on the same month of the previous year in % | value in billion euros | change on previous month in % | value in billion euros | change on the same month of the previous year in % | value in billion euros | change on previous month in % | ||
| 1 Using Census X-12-ARIMA | |||||||||
| 2015 | January | 89.7 | 0.0 | 96.8 | –1.1 | 74.0 | –1.3 | 76.7 | –0.2 |
| February | 95.4 | 4.5 | 98.0 | 1.3 | 76.2 | 1.2 | 77.5 | 1.1 | |
| March | 107.6 | 13.5 | 98.6 | 0.6 | 84.6 | 8.0 | 79.6 | 2.7 | |
| April | 100.1 | 7.8 | 100.0 | 1.4 | 78.8 | 4.4 | 79.4 | –0.3 | |
| May | 95.4 | 4.8 | 101.5 | 1.5 | 76.3 | 3.6 | 79.7 | 0.4 | |
| June | 105.3 | 13.6 | 100.0 | –1.4 | 81.7 | 6.7 | 79.0 | –1.0 | |
| July | 106.7 | 6.8 | 102.5 | 2.4 | 82.3 | 7.0 | 80.5 | 1.9 | |
| August | 87.7 | 5.6 | 96.9 | –5.4 | 72.7 | 4.5 | 78.3 | –2.7 | |
| September | 105.4 | 3.9 | 99.6 | 2.8 | 83.2 | 4.2 | 80.5 | 2.9 | |
| October | 105.8 | 2.9 | 98.7 | –1.0 | 84.1 | 3.3 | 78.6 | –2.3 | |
| November | 102.7 | 8.2 | 99.7 | 1.1 | 82.2 | 6.0 | 79.7 | 1.4 | |
| December | 91.6 | 2.9 | 97.9 | –1.8 | 73.3 | 3.7 | 78.4 | –1.7 | |
| 2016 | January | 88.5 | –1.4 | 98.1 | 0.2 | 75.3 | 1.7 | 79.5 | 1.4 |
| February | 99.3 | 4.1 | 99.2 | 1.1 | 79.5 | 4.3 | 79.3 | –0.3 | |
| March | 106.7 | –0.9 | 100.6 | 1.5 | 80.9 | –4.3 | 77.6 | –2.0 | |
| April | 104.0 | 3.9 | 100.6 | –0.0 | 78.7 | –0.2 | 77.7 | 0.1 | |
| May | 97.0 | 1.6 | 99.3 | –1.3 | 76.2 | –0.1 | 77.7 | 0.0 | |
| June | 106.5 | 1.2 | 99.2 | –0.1 | 82.0 | 0.4 | 78.2 | 0.6 | |
| July | 96.0 | –10.0 | 97.7 | –1.6 | 76.9 | –6.5 | 78.1 | –0.0 | |
| August | 96.2 | 9.7 | 101.0 | 3.4 | 76.6 | 5.3 | 79.7 | 1.9 | |
| September | 105.9 | 0.4 | 100.0 | –1.0 | 81.9 | –1.6 | 79.1 | –0.7 | |
| October | 101.6 | –4.0 | 100.6 | 0.6 | 82.2 | –2.3 | 80.0 | 1.1 | |
| November | 108.5 | 5.7 | 104.5 | 3.9 | 85.8 | 4.4 | 82.7 | 3.5 | |
| December | 97.4 | 6.3 | 101.1 | –3.3 | 78.7 | 7.4 | 82.7 | 0.0 | |