Press release No. 486 of 9 December 2020
Exports, October 2020
112.0 billion euros
+0.8% on the previous month (calendar and seasonally adjusted)
-6.5% on the same month a year earlier
Imports, October 2020
92.7 billion euros
+0.3% on the previous month (calendar and seasonally adjusted)
-5.9% on the same month a year earlier
Foreign trade balance, October 2020
19.4 billion euros
18.2 billion euros (calendar and seasonally adjusted)
Current account according to calculations of the Deutsche Bundesbank, October 2020
22.5 billion euros
WIESBADEN – In October 2020, German exports were up 0.8% and imports 0.3% on September 2020 after calendar and seasonal adjustment. Based on provisional data, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that, after calendar and seasonal adjustment, exports were by 6.8%, and imports by 5.2%, lower than in February 2020, the month before restrictions were imposed due to the corona pandemic in Germany.
Germany exported goods to the value of 112.0 billion euros and imported goods to the value of 92.7 billion euros in October 2020. Compared with October 2019, exports decreased by 6.5%, and imports by 5.9% in October 2020.
The foreign trade balance showed a surplus of 19.4 billion euros in October 2020. In October 2019, the surplus amounted to 21.3 billion euros. In calendar and seasonally adjusted terms, the foreign trade balance recorded a surplus of 18.2 billion euros in October 2020.
The German current account of the balance of payments showed a surplus of 22.5 billion euros in October 2020, which takes into account the balances of trade in goods (+20.0 billion euros), services (-0.2 billion euros), primary income (+7.1 billion euros) and secondary income (-4.3 billion euros). In October 2019, the German current account showed a surplus of 19.0 billion euros.
Trade with EU countries
In October 2020, Germany exported goods to the value of 59.7 billion euros to the Member States of the European Union (EU), while it imported goods to the value of 50.4 billion euros from those countries. Compared with October 2019, exports to the EU countries decreased by 5.1%, and imports from those countries fell by 2.9%. Goods to the value of 41.1 billion euros (-6.4%) were exported to the euro area countries in October 2020, while the value of the goods imported from those countries was 33.7 billion euros (-5.1%). In October 2020, goods to the value of 18.6 billion euros (-1.9%) were exported to EU countries not belonging to the euro area, while the value of the goods imported from those countries was 16.7 billion euros (+1.9%).
Trade with non-EU countries
Exports of goods to countries outside the European Union (third countries) amounted to 52.4 billion euros in October 2020, while imports from those countries totalled 42.2 billion euros. Compared with October 2019, exports to third countries declined by 8.0% and imports from those countries by 9.2%.
Impact of the coronavirus pandemic on trade with selected countries
The degree to which the year-on-year development of exports was affected depended on the trading partner. Exports to the People's Republic of China increased by 0.3% to 8.7 billion euros in October 2020 compared with October 2019, while exports to the United States dropped by 10.5% to 9.9 billion euros. Compared with the same month last year, exports to the United Kingdom showed a decrease of 11.7% to 6.5 billion euros in October 2020.
In October 2020, most imports came to Germany from the People's Republic of China. Goods to the value of 10.1 billion euros were imported from there (-3.3%). Imports from the United States fell by 18.8% to 5.8 billion euros in October 2020. German imports from the United Kingdom were down 17.6% to 3.0 billion euros.
Methodological note:
The differing comparative periods must be taken into account in all press releases on short-term indicators. Short-term economic monitoring usually focuses on comparisons with the previous month or previous quarter. These reflect short-term economic trends. A comparison with the previous month/previous quarter can only be meaningfully interpreted if the data have been seasonally adjusted. A comparison with the previous year is intended to offer a long-term comparison of levels and is not subject to seasonal fluctuations. During the current coronavirus crisis, the strong decreases especially in March/May 2020 and the slowly emerging recovery may produce highly different results for the comparison with the previous month/previous quarter and the comparison with the previous year. Both of the two perspectives are important: what is the short-term economic trend compared with the previous month/previous quarter, and how far has the catching-up process gone compared with the previous year’s level? In order to provide also a direct comparison with the pre-crisis level, all press releases on short-term indicators available in seasonally adjusted form now include a comparison with February 2020 or the 4th quarter of 2019.
| Item | October | January to October | September | October | January to October |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 2019 | ||||
| 1 According to calculations of the Deutsche Bundesbank. | |||||
| Foreign trade | |||||
| 1 Exports (f.o.b.) | 112.0 | 992.1 | 109.8 | 119.8 | 1,116.8 |
| 2 Imports (c.i.f.) | 92.7 | 844.0 | 89.2 | 98.4 | 926.5 |
| 3 Foreign trade balance (1-2) | 19.4 | 148.1 | 20.6 | 21.3 | 190.4 |
| Transition to trade in goods 1 | |||||
| 4 Supplementary trade items | 0.6 | 10.9 | 2.0 | -0.0 | 0.8 |
| Current account balances 1 | |||||
| 5 Trade in goods (3+4) | 20.0 | 159.0 | 22.6 | 21.3 | 191.2 |
| 6 Services | -0.2 | -4.4 | -0.9 | -6.1 | -24.9 |
| 7 Primary income | 7.1 | 69.7 | 6.8 | 8.4 | 69.6 |
| 8 Secondary income | -4.3 | -37.4 | -3.2 | -4.6 | -39.8 |
| Current account (5+6+7+8) | 22.5 | 186.9 | 25.2 | 19.0 | 196.0 |
| Item | October 2020 | January to October 2020 | Percentage change from | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 2019 | January to October 2019 | |||
| billion euro | % | |||
| Total exports | 112.0 | 992.1 | -6.5 | -11.2 |
| including: | ||||
| EU Member States | 59.7 | 523.3 | -5.1 | -11.1 |
| Euro-zone | 41.1 | 363.8 | -6.4 | -12.5 |
| Non-euro-zone | 18.6 | 159.5 | -1.9 | -7.7 |
| Third countries | 52.4 | 468.8 | -8.0 | -11.3 |
| including: | ||||
| United Kingdom | 6.5 | 55.4 | -11.7 | -18.5 |
| Total imports | 92.7 | 844.0 | -5.9 | -8.9 |
| including: | ||||
| EU Member States | 50.4 | 449.5 | -2.9 | -10.0 |
| Euro-zone | 33.7 | 307.4 | -5.1 | -11.1 |
| Non-euro-zone | 16.7 | 142.1 | 1.9 | -7.6 |
| Third countries | 42.2 | 394.5 | -9.2 | -7.6 |
| including: | ||||
| United Kingdom | 3.0 | 28.7 | -17.6 | -9.5 |
| 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 | 108.9 | 1.7 | 112.2 | 0.3 | 94.2 | 5.2 | 93.2 | 0.9 |
| February | 108.8 | 3.9 | 110.8 | -1.3 | 91.1 | 5.8 | 92.8 | -0.4 | |
| March | 118.2 | 1.8 | 112.4 | 1.5 | 95.8 | 5.2 | 92.9 | 0.1 | |
| April | 110.0 | -0.3 | 109.7 | -2.4 | 92.1 | 2.5 | 92.1 | -0.9 | |
| May | 114.2 | 4.8 | 110.4 | 0.6 | 93.5 | 5.0 | 92.1 | -0.0 | |
| June | 106.2 | -7.9 | 111.0 | 0.5 | 89.5 | -4.1 | 93.0 | 0.9 | |
| July | 115.0 | 3.6 | 110.8 | -0.1 | 93.7 | -1.0 | 91.7 | -1.3 | |
| August | 101.6 | -3.6 | 110.3 | -0.5 | 85.1 | -3.0 | 91.0 | -0.8 | |
| September | 114.1 | 4.6 | 111.2 | 0.9 | 93.0 | 2.2 | 91.7 | 0.8 | |
| October | 119.8 | 2.1 | 112.7 | 1.3 | 98.4 | -0.1 | 92.4 | 0.8 | |
| November | 113.2 | -2.6 | 110.9 | -1.6 | 94.7 | -1.5 | 92.2 | -0.2 | |
| December | 98.1 | 2.4 | 111.0 | 0.0 | 82.9 | 1.4 | 91.8 | -0.4 | |
| 2020 | January | 106.6 | -2.1 | 111.1 | 0.1 | 92.9 | -1.4 | 92.5 | 0.7 |
| February | 109.2 | 0.3 | 112.5 | 1.3 | 88.9 | -2.4 | 91.3 | -1.2 | |
| March | 108.9 | -7.9 | 99.3 | -11.8 | 91.7 | -4.3 | 86.6 | -5.2 | |
| April | 75.7 | -31.1 | 75.7 | -23.8 | 72.3 | -21.6 | 72.3 | -16.5 | |
| May | 80.2 | -29.8 | 82.2 | 8.6 | 73.3 | -21.6 | 75.1 | 3.9 | |
| June | 96.0 | -9.5 | 94.7 | 15.2 | 80.6 | -9.9 | 80.7 | 7.5 | |
| July | 102.3 | -11.0 | 98.8 | 4.3 | 83.1 | -11.3 | 81.4 | 0.9 | |
| August | 91.2 | -10.2 | 101.6 | 2.9 | 79.3 | -6.8 | 86.2 | 5.8 | |
| September | 109.8 | -3.8 | 103.9 | 2.3 | 89.2 | -4.0 | 86.3 | 0.2 | |
| October | 112.0 | -6.5 | 104.8 | 0.8 | 92.7 | -5.9 | 86.6 | 0.3 | |
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 based on the country of origin/country of consignment concepts are available for downloading.
German EU Council Presidency
The Federal Statistical Office has been responsible for organising the meetings of the Council Working Party on Statistics 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.
