Press release No. 086 of 4 March 2022
Exports (calendar and seasonally adjusted), January 2022
116.9 billion euros
-2.8% on the previous month
+7.5% on the same month a year earlier
Imports (calendar and seasonally adjusted), January 2022
107.5 billion euros
-4.2% on the previous month
+22.1% on the same month a year earlier
Foreign trade balance (calendar and seasonally adjusted), January 2022
9.4 billion euros
WIESBADEN – In January 2022, German exports were down by 2.8% and imports by 4.2% on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis compared with December 2021. Based on provisional data, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that exports increased by 7.5% and imports by 22.1% on January 2021. Exports were up by 4.0% and imports by 17.8% in January 2022 in seasonally and calendar adjusted terms compared with February 2020, the month before restrictions were imposed due to the corona pandemic in Germany. As the trade with the Russian Federation was not yet restricted by the sanctions imposed in response to Russia’s attack on Ukraine, exports and imports rose markedly in January 2022 on December 2021.
After calendar and seasonal adjustment, Germany exported goods to the total value of 116.9 billion euros and imported goods to the value of 107.5 billion euros in January 2022. The foreign trade balance showed a surplus of 9.4 billion euros in January 2022. The calendar and seasonally adjusted surplus had been +8.1 billion euros in December 2021 and +20.7 billion euros in January 2021.
Trade with EU countries
On a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis, Germany exported goods to the value of 61.4 billion euros to the Member States of the European Union (EU), while it imported goods to the value of 54.5 billion euros from those countries in January 2022. Compared with December 2021, calendar and seasonally adjusted exports to the EU countries dropped by 9.6% and imports from those countries by 6.8%. Goods to the value of 42.9 billion euros (-8.8%) were exported to the euro area countries in January 2022, whereas the value of the goods imported from those countries was 37.7 billion euros (-7.1%). After adjustment for calendar and seasonal fluctuations, goods to the value of 18.5 billion euros (-11.5%) were exported to EU countries not belonging to the euro area, while the value of the goods imported from those countries was 16.8 billion euros (-6.2%) in January 2022.
Trade with non-EU countries
Exports of goods to countries outside the EU (third countries) amounted to 55.5 billion euros in January 2022, while imports from those countries totalled 53.0 billion euros on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis. Compared with December 2021, exports to third countries increased by 6.2% and imports from those countries decreased by 1.3%.
Most German exports went to the United States in January 2022, with goods exports up 3.0% on December 2021 after seasonal and calendar adjustment. Exports to the United States rose to 10.9 billion euros. Exports to the People's Republic of China increased by 13.7% to 8.8 billion euros and exports to the United Kingdom by 2.4% to 5.7 billion euros. As the trade with the Russian Federation was not yet restricted in January 2022 by the sanctions imposed in response to Russia’s attack on Ukraine, German exports rose by 14.4 % to 2.6 billion euros on December 2021.
Most imports to Germany came from the People's Republic of China in January 2022. Goods to the value of 13.1 billion euros were imported from there, which was a 6.0% decrease compared with the previous month, after calendar and seasonal adjustment. Imports from the United States were up 2.0% to 6.5 billion euros. Imports from the Russian Federation increased by 18.9% to 3.9 billion euros. Imports from the United Kingdom rose by 0.4% to 2.7 billion euros over the same period.
Unadjusted foreign trade values (not adjusted for calendar or seasonal effects)
Germany exported goods to the value of 109.2 billion euros and imported goods to the value of 105.8 billion euros on a nominal basis (not adjusted for calendar or seasonal effects) in January 2022. Compared with January 2021, exports increased by 11.0% and imports by 25.6% in January 2022. The unadjusted foreign trade balance showed a surplus of 3.5 billion euros in January 2022. In January 2021, the surplus had been 14.2 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 focuses on comparisons with the previous month or previous quarter. These reflect short-term economic trends. A comparison with the previous year is intended to offer a long-term comparison of levels and is not subject to seasonal fluctuations. Due to temporarily strong decreases and increases during the current Covid-19 crisis, the results of month-on-month/quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year comparisons may differ considerably. To enable a direct comparison with the pre-crisis level, all press releases on short-term indicators available in seasonally adjusted form will, for the time being, include a comparison with February 2020 or the fourth quarter of 2019.
To meet changed user needs, more importance is attached to calendar and seasonally adjusted results in the press releases on foreign trade statistics as of reference month January 2022. Many users intend to use foreign trade statistics for time series comparisons, for instance, to show how exports have developed compared with the previous month or the same month a year earlier. The informational value of such comparisons based on unadjusted values and the seasonal and calendar effects included in them is limited. Calendar and seasonal adjustment is designed to exclude these effects. The X13 JDemetra+ method is used for the calendar and seasonal adjustment of foreign trade data. Related detailed explanations are included in the methodological paper “Saisonbereinigung im Außenhandel“. The fact that adjusted values are always calculated ‘fictitious’ values is important in evaluating calendar and seasonally adjusted values. For this reason, a comparison between adjusted series and nominal series is not useful. The nominal values form the basis for the calculation of calendar and seasonally adjusted results.
More information:
More calendar and seasonally adjusted results of foreign trade statistics are available in the GENESIS-Online database (Tables 51000-0020 and 51000-0021).
First detailed provisional results on a nominal basis by country of origin/country of destination and by chapter of the Commodity Classification for Foreign Trade Statistics are available for downloading.
| Item | January 2022 | Percentage change from | |
|---|---|---|---|
| December 2021 | January 2021 | ||
| billion euro | % | ||
| Total exports | 116.9 | -2.8 | 7.5 |
| including: | |||
| EU Member States | 61.4 | -9.6 | 5.8 |
| Euro-zone | 42.9 | -8.8 | 6.3 |
| Non-euro-zone | 18.5 | -11.5 | 4.7 |
| Third countries | 55.5 | 6.2 | 9.4 |
| Total imports | 107.5 | -4.2 | 22.1 |
| including: | |||
| EU Member States | 54.5 | -6.8 | 13.7 |
| Euro-zone | 37.7 | -7.1 | 17.7 |
| Non-euro-zone | 16.8 | -6.2 | 5.7 |
| Third countries | 53.0 | -1.3 | 32.2 |
| Year | Month | Exports | Imports | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| calendar and seasonally adjusted value | original value | calendar and seasonally adjusted value | original value | ||||||
| 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 % | value in billion euros | change on the same month of the previous year in % | ||
| 2021 | January | 108.8 | 1.4 | 98.4 | -7.7 | 88.0 | -2.3 | 84.2 | -9.4 |
| February | 109.6 | 0.8 | 107.8 | -1.3 | 91.5 | 4.0 | 89.9 | 1.1 | |
| March | 111.7 | 1.9 | 127.1 | 16.3 | 97.9 | 6.9 | 106.3 | 15.4 | |
| April | 112.0 | 0.3 | 111.9 | 47.4 | 96.6 | -1.3 | 96.6 | 33.7 | |
| May | 112.6 | 0.5 | 109.5 | 35.9 | 99.6 | 3.1 | 97.2 | 32.6 | |
| June | 113.5 | 0.7 | 118.7 | 23.7 | 100.2 | 0.6 | 102.7 | 27.4 | |
| July | 114.9 | 1.3 | 115.1 | 12.0 | 97.9 | -2.4 | 97.3 | 17.0 | |
| August | 113.3 | -1.4 | 104.5 | 14.6 | 99.1 | 1.2 | 93.0 | 17.2 | |
| September | 112.5 | -0.7 | 118.2 | 7.5 | 99.9 | 0.8 | 102.1 | 13.5 | |
| October | 116.8 | 3.8 | 121.4 | 8.2 | 104.2 | 4.3 | 108.8 | 17.6 | |
| November | 118.9 | 1.8 | 125.9 | 12.3 | 107.9 | 3.6 | 114.3 | 19.9 | |
| December | 120.3 | 1.2 | 116.9 | 15.5 | 112.2 | 4.0 | 110.3 | 28.1 | |
| 2022 | January | 116.9 | -2.8 | 109.2 | 11.0 | 107.5 | -4.2 | 105.8 | 25.6 |
First detailed provisional results by country of origin/country of destination and by chapter of the Commodity Classification for Foreign Trade Statistics are available for downloading.
Crisis Monitor enables comparison between coronavirus crisis and financial and economic crisis
Foreign trade statistics also form part of the Crisis Monitor (www.destatis.de/krisenmonitor), by means of which the Federal Statistical Office compares the development of major short-term indicators in the coronavirus crisis and the financial and economic crisis of 2008/2009.
The Crisis Monitor complements the Corona statistics webpage (www.destatis.de/corona), which provides statistical information on the economic and social consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.
