Press release No. 081 of 9 March 2020
Exports, January 2020
106.5 billion euros
-0.0% on the previous month (calendar and seasonally adjusted)
-2.1% on the same month a year earlier
Imports, January 2020
92.7 billion euros
+0.5% on the previous month (calendar and seasonally adjusted)
-1.8% on the same month a year earlier
Foreign trade balance, January 2020:
13.9 billion euros
18.5 billion euros (calendar and seasonally adjusted)
Current account according to calculations of the Deutsche Bundesbank, January 2020
16.6 billion euros
WIESBADEN – Germany exported goods to the value of 106.5 billion euros and imported goods to the value of 92.7 billion euros in January 2020. Based on provisional data, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that German exports decreased by 2.1% and imports by 1.8% in January 2020 year on year. After calendar and seasonal adjustment, exports remained unchanged and imports were up 0.5% compared with December 2019.
The foreign trade balance showed a surplus of 13.9 billion euros in January 2020. In January 2019, the surplus of the foreign trade balance amounted to 14.5 billion euros. The calendar and seasonally adjusted surplus of January 2020 was 18.5 billion euros.
The German current account of the balance of payments showed a surplus of 16.6 billion euros in January 2020, which takes into account the balances of trade in goods (+14.2 billion euros), services (-0.4 billion euros), primary income (+9.9 billion euros) and secondary income (-7.1 billion euros). In January 2019, the German current account showed a surplus of 17.6 billion euros.
Trade with EU countries
In January 2020, Germany exported goods to the value of 63.9 billion euros to the Member States of the European Union (EU) and imported goods to the value of 50.5 billion euros from those countries. Compared with January 2019, exports to the EU countries decreased by 2.2%, and imports from those countries by 2.5%. Goods to the value of 40.7 billion euros (-1.8%) were dispatched to the Euro area countries in January 2020, while the value of the goods received from those countries was 31.9 billion euros (-5.4%). In January 2020, goods to the value of 23.2 billion euros (-2.9%) were exported to EU countries not belonging to the Euro area, while the value of the goods imported from those countries was 18.6 billion euros (+3.0%).
Special situation: United Kingdom
The United Kingdom left the European Union on 31 January 2020 (at midnight). Therefore, the United Kingdom has been allocated to the EU Member States group for reference month January 2020. From the reference month of February 2020, however, it will be shown under “third countries”. In January 2020, goods to the value of 5.9 billion euros were exported to the United Kingdom (-16.3% compared with January 2019) and goods to the value of 3.6 billion euros were imported from the UK (+14.5%).
Trade with non-EU countries
Exports of goods to countries outside the EU (third countries) amounted to 42.6 billion euros in January 2020, while imports from those countries totalled 42.2 billion euros. Compared with January 2019, exports to third countries decreased by 2.0% and imports from those countries by 0.9%.
First possible coronavirus effects: exports to China going down
Exports to the People's Republic of China, which is particularly affected by the new coronavirus, decreased by 6.5% to 7.3 billion euros from January 2019, while imports from China fell only slightly by 0.5% to 10.4 billion euros in January 2020. However, the results available so far do not clearly show any coronavirus effect.
| Item | January | December | January |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 2019 | ||
| 1 According to calculations of the Deutsche Bundesbank | |||
| Foreign trade | |||
| 1 Exports (f.o.b.) | 106.5 | 98.1 | 108.8 |
| 2 Imports (c.i.f.) | 92.7 | 82.9 | 94.3 |
| 3 Foreign trade balance (1-2) | 13.9 | 15.2 | 14.5 |
| Transition to trade in goods 1 | |||
| 4 Supplementary trade items | 0.3 | -2.4 | -0.2 |
| Current account balances 1 | |||
| 5 Trade in goods (3+4) | 14.2 | 12.8 | 14.3 |
| 6 Services | -0.4 | 2.2 | -1.0 |
| 7 Primary income | 9.9 | 14.0 | 9.3 |
| 8 Secondary income | -7.1 | -4.2 | -5.0 |
| Current account (5+6+7+8) | 16.6 | 24.8 | 17.6 |
| Item | January 2020 | January 2019 | Change on January 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| billion euro | % | ||
| Results in accordance with the EU concept (by country of consignment) | |||
| Total exports | 106.5 | 108.8 | -2.1 |
| including: | |||
| EU Member States | 63.9 | 65.3 | -2.2 |
| Euro-area | 40.7 | 41.4 | -1.8 |
| Non-euro-area | 23.2 | 23.9 | -2.9 |
| United Kingdom | 5.9 | 7.1 | -16.3 |
| Third countries | 5.9 | 7.1 | -16.3 |
| People's Republic of China | 7.3 | 7.8 | -6.5 |
| Total imports | 42.6 | 43.5 | -2.0 |
| including: | |||
| EU Member States | 50.5 | 51.7 | -2.5 |
| Euro-area | 31.9 | 33.7 | -5.4 |
| Non-euro-area | 18.6 | 18.0 | 3.0 |
| United Kingdom | 3.6 | 3.2 | 14.5 |
| Third countries | 3.6 | 3.2 | 14.5 |
| People's Republic of China | 10.4 | 10.5 | -0.5 |
| 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 J-DEMETRA+ (X-13 ARIMA). | |||||||||
| 2019 | January | 108.8 | 1.6 | 112.1 | 0.3 | 94.3 | 5.3 | 93.5 | 1.0 |
| February | 108.9 | 4.0 | 111.0 | -1.0 | 91.1 | 5.8 | 92.6 | -1.0 | |
| March | 118.2 | 1.8 | 112.4 | 1.3 | 95.9 | 5.3 | 92.9 | 0.3 | |
| April | 110.0 | -0.3 | 109.5 | -2.5 | 92.2 | 2.5 | 92.2 | -0.8 | |
| May | 114.2 | 4.7 | 110.5 | 0.9 | 93.6 | 5.1 | 91.9 | -0.3 | |
| June | 106.1 | -8.0 | 110.6 | 0.1 | 89.5 | -4.1 | 92.4 | 0.6 | |
| July | 115.0 | 3.6 | 110.9 | 0.3 | 93.7 | -1.0 | 91.2 | -1.3 | |
| August | 101.6 | -3.6 | 110.0 | -0.8 | 85.2 | -2.9 | 91.3 | 0.1 | |
| September | 114.1 | 4.6 | 111.6 | 1.4 | 93.0 | 2.2 | 92.4 | 1.2 | |
| October | 119.7 | 2.1 | 112.7 | 1.0 | 98.5 | -0.1 | 92.7 | 0.3 | |
| November | 113.1 | -2.8 | 110.8 | -1.7 | 94.5 | -1.7 | 92.2 | -0.5 | |
| December | 98.1 | 2.4 | 111.0 | 0.2 | 82.9 | 1.4 | 92.0 | -0.3 | |
| 2020 | January | 106.5 | -2.1 | 110.9 | -0.0 | 92.7 | -1.8 | 92.4 | 0.5 |
First detailed provisional results (only in german) by country of origin/country of destination and by chapter of the Commodity Classification for Foreign Trade Statistics as well as a comparative table (only in german) based on the country of origin/country of consignment concepts are available for downloading.
