Press release No. 118 of 7 April 2017
WIESBADEN – Germany exported goods to the value of 102.3 billion euros and imported goods to the value of 82.4 billion euros in February 2017. Based on provisional data, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that German exports increased by 3.1% and imports by 3.7% in February 2017 year on year. Exports and imports showed diverging month-on-month trends on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis. While exports rose by 0.8% on January 2017, imports were down 1.6%.
The foreign trade balance showed a surplus of 19.9 billion euros in February 2017. In February 2016, the surplus amounted to 19.8 billion euros. In calendar and seasonally adjusted terms, the foreign trade balance recorded a surplus of 21.0 billion euros in February 2017.
According to provisional results of the Deutsche Bundesbank, the current account of the balance of payments showed a surplus of 20.4 billion euros in February 2017, which takes into account the balances of trade in goods including supplementary trade items (+23.1 billion euros), services (–1.4 billion euros), primary income (+3.4 billion euros) and secondary income (–4.7 billion euros). In February 2016, the German current account showed a surplus of 20.6 billion euros.
In February 2017, Germany exported goods to the value of 61.2 billion euros to the Member States of the European Union (EU), while it imported goods to the value of 54.7 billion euros from those countries. Compared with February 2016, exports to the EU countries increased by 2.9%, and imports from those countries by 2.6%. Goods to the value of 38.2 billion euros (+3.5%) were dispatched to the Euro area countries in February 2017, while the value of the goods received from those countries was 37.1 billion euros (+2.6%). In February 2017, goods to the value of 23.0 billion euros (+1.8%) were exported to EU countries not belonging to the Euro area, while the value of the goods which were imported from those countries was 17.7 billion euros (+2.5%).
Exports of goods to countries outside the European Union (third countries) amounted to 41.1 billion euros in February 2017, while imports from those countries totalled 27.7 billion euros. Compared with February 2016, exports to third countries increased by 3.4%, while imports from those countries rose by 6.1%.
| Item | February | January to February | January | February | January to February |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 2016 | ||||
| 1 According to calculations of the Deutsche Bundesbank. | |||||
| Foreign trade | |||||
| 1 Exports (f.o.b.) | 102.3 | 201.1 | 98.8 | 99.3 | 187.7 |
| 2 Imports (c.i.f.) | 82.4 | 166.3 | 83.9 | 79.5 | 154.7 |
| 3 Foreign trade balance (1-2) | 19.9 | 34.8 | 14.9 | 19.8 | 33.0 |
| Transition to trade in goods 1 | |||||
| 4 Supplementary trade items | 3.2 | 4.5 | 1.3 | 2.9 | 3.6 |
| Current account balances 1 | |||||
| 5 Trade in goods (3+4) | 23.1 | 39.3 | 16.2 | 22.7 | 36.6 |
| 6 Services | –1.4 | –2.7 | –1.3 | –0.2 | –1.8 |
| 7 Primary income | 3.4 | 9.5 | 6.1 | 5.6 | 10.1 |
| 8 Secondary income | –4.7 | –11.5 | –6.8 | –7.5 | –9.8 |
| Current account (5+6+7+8) | 20.4 | 34.5 | 14.2 | 20.6 | 35.2 |
| Item | February 2017 | January to February 2017 | Percentage change from | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 2016 | January to February 2016 | |||
| billion euro | % | |||
| Results in accordance with the EU concept (by country of consignment). | ||||
| Total exports | 102.3 | 201.1 | 3.1 | 7.1 |
| including: | ||||
| EU Member States | 61.2 | 119.9 | 2.9 | 5.3 |
| Euro-zone | 38.2 | 75.2 | 3.5 | 5.8 |
| Non-euro-zone | 23.0 | 44.7 | 1.8 | 4.4 |
| Third countries | 41.1 | 81.2 | 3.4 | 10.0 |
| Total imports | 82.4 | 166.3 | 3.7 | 7.5 |
| including: | ||||
| EU Member States | 54.7 | 108.5 | 2.6 | 6.6 |
| Euro-zone | 37.1 | 73.5 | 2.6 | 5.8 |
| Non-euro-zone | 17.7 | 35.0 | 2.5 | 8.1 |
| Third countries | 27.7 | 57.8 | 6.1 | 9.3 |
| 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 | |||||||||
| 2016 | January | 88.5 | –1.4 | 98.3 | 0.1 | 75.3 | 1.7 | 79.5 | 1.4 |
| February | 99.3 | 4.1 | 98.9 | 0.6 | 79.5 | 4.3 | 79.3 | –0.3 | |
| March | 106.7 | –0.9 | 100.7 | 1.8 | 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 | –1.4 | 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 | 97.6 | –1.6 | 76.9 | –6.5 | 78.1 | –0.0 | |
| August | 96.2 | 9.7 | 101.0 | 3.5 | 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 | 101.4 | –4.2 | 100.6 | 0.6 | 82.2 | –2.3 | 80.0 | 1.2 | |
| November | 108.0 | 5.1 | 103.6 | 3.0 | 85.9 | 4.5 | 82.8 | 3.5 | |
| December | 97.4 | 6.4 | 101.6 | –2.0 | 78.7 | 7.5 | 82.8 | 0.0 | |
| 2017 | January | 98.8 | 11.7 | 104.0 | 2.4 | 83.9 | 11.4 | 85.1 | 2.8 |
| February | 102.3 | 3.1 | 104.9 | 0.8 | 82.4 | 3.7 | 83.8 | –1.6 | |