Press release No. 254 of 9 July 2020
Exports, May 2020
80.3 billion euros
+9.0% on the previous month (calendar and seasonally adjusted)
-29.7% on the same month a year earlier
Imports, May 2020
73.2 billion euros
+3.5% on the previous month (calendar and seasonally adjusted)
-21.7% on the same month a year earlier
Foreign trade balance, May 2020
7.1 billion euros
7.6 billion euros (calendar and seasonally adjusted)
Current account according to calculations of the Deutsche Bundesbank, May 2020
6.5 billion euros
WIESBADEN – Germany exported goods to the value of 80.3 billion euros and imported goods to the value of 73.2 billion euros in May 2020. Based on provisional data, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that exports decreased by 29.7% and imports by 21.7% in May 2020 year on year.
Compared with April 2020, exports were up 9.0% and imports 3.5% after calendar and seasonal adjustment. Compared with February 2020 – the month before the corona lockdown, exports decreased by a calendar and seasonally adjusted 26.8%, and imports by 18.2%.
The foreign trade balance showed a surplus of 7.1 billion euros in May 2020. In May 2019, the surplus amounted to 20.7 billion euros. In calendar and seasonally adjusted terms, the foreign trade balance recorded a surplus of 7.6 billion euros in May 2020.
The German current account of the balance of payments showed a surplus of 6.5 billion euros in May 2020, which takes into account the balances of trade in goods (+8.5 billion euros), services (+1.1 billion euros), primary income (+0.4 billion euros) and secondary income (-3.5 billion euros). In May 2019, the German current account showed a surplus of 13.3 billion euros.
Trade with EU countries
In May 2020, Germany exported goods to the value of 42.4 billion euros to the Member States of the European Union (EU), while it imported goods to the value of 38.4 billion euros from those countries. Compared with May 2019, exports to the EU countries decreased by 29.0%, and imports from those countries fell by 25.2%. Goods to the value of 29.9 billion euros (-29.1%) were exported to the euro area countries in May 2020, while the value of the goods imported from those countries was 26.7 billion euros (-25.2%). In May 2020, goods to the value of 12.5 billion euros (-28.6%) were exported to EU countries not belonging to the euro area, while the value of the goods imported from those countries was 11.7 billion euros (-25.3%).
Trade with non-EU countries
Exports of goods to countries outside the European Union (third countries) amounted to 37.7 billion euros in May 2020, while imports from those countries totalled 34.8 billion euros. Compared with May 2019, exports to third countries decreased by 30.5% and imports from those countries by 17.5%.
Impact of the corona pandemic on trade with selected countries
The degree to which year-on-year exports were affected depended on the trading partner. Exports to the People's Republic of China decreased rather moderately by 12.3% to 7.2 billion euros in May 2020 compared with May 2019. Exports to the United States, which have been hit particularly hard by the coronavirus pandemic, dropped by 36.5% to 6.5 billion euros. Compared with the same month last year, exports to the United Kingdom showed a particularly strong decrease, by 46.9% to 3.5 billion euros.
In May 2020, most imports came to Germany from the People's Republic of China. Goods to the value of 10.7 billion euros were imported from there, which was 23.4% more than in May 2019. Imports from the United States fell by 26.9% to 4.4 billion euros in May 2020. German imports from the United Kingdom were down by 20.3% to 2.2 billion euros.
| Item | May | January to May | April | May | January to May |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 2019 | ||||
| 1 According to calculations of the Deutsche Bundesbank. | |||||
| Foreign trade | |||||
| 1 Exports (f.o.b.)--free on board | 80.3 | 481.0 | 75.8 | 114.2 | 560.1 |
| 2 Imports (c.i.f.)--cost insurance freight | 73.2 | 418.8 | 72.2 | 93.6 | 467.0 |
| 3 Foreign trade balance (1-2) | 7.1 | 62.1 | 3.6 | 20.7 | 93.1 |
| Transition to trade in goods 1 | |||||
| 4 Supplementary trade items | 1.4 | 4.3 | 0.5 | -1.5 | 0.4 |
| Current account balances 1 | |||||
| 5 Trade in goods (3+4) | 8.5 | 66.4 | 4.2 | 19.2 | 93.5 |
| 6 Services | 1.1 | 0.7 | 0.8 | -0.3 | -2.7 |
| 7 Primary income | 0.4 | 35.9 | 8.5 | -6.4 | 27.0 |
| 8 Secondary income | -3.5 | -21.8 | -4.3 | 0.8 | -19.5 |
| Current account (5+6+7+8) | 6.5 | 81.2 | 9.1 | 13.3 | 98.2 |
| Item | May 2020 | January to May 2020 | Percentage change from | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2019 | January to May 2019 | |||
| billion euro | % | |||
| Total exports | 80.3 | 481.0 | -29.7 | -14.1 |
| including: | ||||
| EU | 42.4 | 252.9 | -29.0 | -14.9 |
| Euro-zone | 29.9 | 176.3 | -29.1 | -16.6 |
| Non-euro-zone | 12.5 | 76.5 | -28.6 | -10.7 |
| Third countries | 37.7 | 228.1 | -30.5 | -13.3 |
| including: | ||||
| United Kingdom | 3.5 | 26.3 | -46.9 | -24.6 |
| Total imports | 73.2 | 418.8 | -21.7 | -10.3 |
| including: | ||||
| EU | 38.4 | 218.9 | -25.2 | -13.7 |
| Euro-zone | 26.7 | 151.6 | -25.2 | -13.9 |
| Non-euro-zone | 11.7 | 67.3 | -25.3 | -13.1 |
| Third countries | 34.8 | 200.0 | -17.5 | -6.3 |
| including: | ||||
| United Kingdom | 2.2 | 15.7 | -20.3 | 2.1 |
| 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 | 93.3 | 0.9 |
| February | 108.9 | 4.0 | 110.8 | -1.2 | 91.1 | 5.8 | 92.9 | -0.4 | |
| March | 118.2 | 1.8 | 112.3 | 1.4 | 95.9 | 5.3 | 93.0 | 0.0 | |
| 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 | 0.2 | |
| September | 114.1 | 4.6 | 111.6 | 1.5 | 93.0 | 2.2 | 92.4 | 1.2 | |
| October | 119.7 | 2.1 | 112.8 | 1.0 | 98.5 | -0.1 | 92.6 | 0.3 | |
| November | 113.1 | -2.7 | 110.9 | -1.7 | 94.8 | -1.4 | 92.4 | -0.3 | |
| December | 98.1 | 2.4 | 111.0 | 0.2 | 82.9 | 1.4 | 91.9 | -0.5 | |
| 2020 | January | 106.6 | -2.0 | 111.1 | 0.1 | 92.9 | -1.5 | 92.5 | 0.6 |
| February | 109.2 | 0.3 | 112.5 | 1.2 | 88.9 | -2.5 | 91.4 | -1.2 | |
| March | 109.1 | -7.7 | 99.4 | -11.6 | 91.7 | -4.4 | 86.6 | -5.3 | |
| April | 75.8 | -31.1 | 75.6 | -24.0 | 72.2 | -21.7 | 72.2 | -16.6 | |
| May | 80.3 | -29.7 | 82.3 | 9.0 | 73.2 | -21.7 | 74.8 | 3.5 | |
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 are available for downloading.
German EU Council Presidency
As of 1 July, the Federal Statistical Office will organise the meetings of the Council Working Party on Statistics to be held during Germany’s EU Council Presidency under the chairmanship of its President Dr. Georg Thiel. Information on our activities during the Presidency of the Council of the EU is provided at destatis.de/eu2020. European statistics are available under „ Europe in figures“ on our website at www.destatis.de.
The results published by Eurostat on trade within the European Union (intra-EU trade) are based on the country of consignment principle, whereas the national results are based on the country of origin concept. Therefore, we additionally provide a comparative table for the country of origin / country of consignment concepts.
