Press release No. 146 of 4 April 2022
Exports (calendar and seasonally adjusted), February 2022
124.7 billion euros
+6.4% on the previous month
+14.3% on the same month a year earlier
Imports (calendar and seasonally adjusted), February 2022
113.1 billion euros
+4.5% on the previous month
+24.6% on the same month a year earlier
Foreign trade balance (calendar and seasonally adjusted), February 2022:
11.5 billion euros
WIESBADEN – In February 2022, German exports were up by 6.4% and imports by 4.5% on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis compared with January 2022. Based on provisional data, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that exports increased by 14.3% and imports by 24.6% on February 2021. In trade with the Russian Federation, exports (-6.3%) and imports (-7.3%) were markedly down in February 2022 compared with January 2022. Trade with Russia was not restricted until late February 2022 as a result of Russia’s attack on Ukraine and the sanctions imposed as a consequence. It is expected that, as of reference month March, foreign trade figures will show in detail in how far the sanctions, further measures to restrict exports and unsanctioned behaviour of market participants will further impact German trade with the Russian Federation.
After calendar and seasonal adjustment, Germany exported goods to the total value of 124.7 billion euros and imported goods to the value of 113.1 billion euros in February 2022. The foreign trade balance showed a surplus of 11.5 billion euros in February 2022. The calendar and seasonally adjusted surplus had been +8.9 billion euros in January 2022 and +18.2 billion euros in February 2021.
Trade with EU countries
On a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis, Germany exported goods to the value of 67.8 billion euros to the Member States of the European Union (EU), while it imported goods to the value of 57.7 billion euros from those countries in February 2022. Compared with January 2022, calendar and seasonally adjusted exports to the EU countries rose by 10.4% and imports from those countries by 5.2%. Goods to the value of 46.8 billion euros (+9.2%) were exported to the euro area countries in February 2022, while the value of the goods imported from those countries was 39.7 billion euros (+4.4%). In February 2022, goods to the value of 21.0 billion euros (+13.0%) were exported to EU countries not belonging to the euro area, while the value of the goods imported from those countries was 18.0 billion euros (+6.9%), on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis.
Trade with non-EU countries
Exports of goods to countries outside the EU (third countries) amounted to 56.9 billion euros in February 2022, while imports from those countries totalled 55.5 billion euros on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis. Compared with January 2022, exports to third countries increased by 2.1% and imports from those countries by 3.8%.
Most German exports went to the United States in February 2022, with goods exports up 2.7% on January 2022 after seasonal and calendar adjustment. Exports to the United States rose to 11.2 billion euros. Exports to the People's Republic of China increased by 6.4% to 9.5 billion euros and exports to the United Kingdom by 0.7% to 5.7 billion euros. German exports to the Russian Federation declined by 6.3% to 2.4 billion euros compared with January 2022.
Most imports to Germany came from the People's Republic of China in February 2022. Goods to the value of 13.8 billion euros were imported from there, which was a 4.8% increase compared with the previous month, after calendar and seasonal adjustment. Imports from the United States were down 2.5% to 6.3 billion euros. Imports from the Russian Federation decreased by 7.3% to 3.7 billion euros. Imports from the United Kingdom fell by 3.6% to 2.6 billion euros over the same period.
Unadjusted foreign trade values (not adjusted for calendar or seasonal effects)
Germany exported goods to the value of 123.3 billion euros and imported goods to the value of 111.9 billion euros on a nominal basis (not adjusted for calendar or seasonal effects) in February 2022. Compared with February 2021, exports increased by 14.4% and imports by 24.5% in February 2022. The unadjusted foreign trade balance showed a surplus of 11.4 billion euros in February 2022. In February 2021, the surplus had been 17.9 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.
To meet changed user needs, more importance has been attached to calendar and seasonally adjusted results in the press releases on foreign trade statistics since 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 | February 2022 | January to February 2022 | Percentage change from | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 2022 | January to February 2021 | |||
| billion euro | % | |||
| Total exports | 124.7 | 241.8 | 6.4 | 11.0 |
| including: | ||||
| EU Member States | 67.8 | 129.2 | 10.4 | 10.8 |
| Euro-zone | 46.8 | 89.6 | 9.2 | 11.2 |
| Non-euro-zone | 21.0 | 39.6 | 13.0 | 9.9 |
| Third countries | 56.9 | 112.6 | 2.1 | 11.3 |
| including: | ||||
| Russian Federation | 2.4 | 5.0 | -6.3 | 21.3 |
| Total imports | 113.1 | 221.4 | 4.5 | 23.6 |
| including: | ||||
| EU Member States | 57.7 | 112.5 | 5.2 | 15.3 |
| Euro-zone | 39.7 | 77.7 | 4.4 | 18.5 |
| Non-euro-zone | 18.0 | 34.8 | 6.9 | 8.9 |
| Third countries | 55.5 | 108.9 | 3.8 | 33.4 |
| including: | ||||
| Russian Federation | 3.7 | 7.7 | -7.3 | 59.6 |
| 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 | 108.7 | 1.0 | 98.4 | -7.7 | 88.3 | -2.2 | 84.2 | -9.4 |
| February | 109.0 | 0.3 | 107.8 | -1.3 | 90.8 | 2.8 | 89.9 | 1.1 | |
| March | 111.6 | 2.4 | 127.1 | 16.3 | 97.6 | 7.4 | 106.3 | 15.4 | |
| April | 112.0 | 0.3 | 111.9 | 47.4 | 96.7 | -0.9 | 96.6 | 33.7 | |
| May | 112.6 | 0.6 | 109.5 | 35.9 | 99.6 | 3.1 | 97.2 | 32.6 | |
| June | 113.5 | 0.8 | 118.7 | 23.7 | 100.3 | 0.6 | 102.7 | 27.4 | |
| July | 114.9 | 1.3 | 115.1 | 12.0 | 97.6 | -2.6 | 97.3 | 17.0 | |
| August | 113.4 | -1.3 | 104.5 | 14.6 | 99.1 | 1.5 | 93.0 | 17.2 | |
| September | 112.7 | -0.6 | 118.2 | 7.5 | 100.1 | 0.9 | 102.1 | 13.5 | |
| October | 117.1 | 3.9 | 121.4 | 8.2 | 104.5 | 4.5 | 108.8 | 17.6 | |
| November | 119.2 | 1.8 | 126.0 | 12.4 | 108.5 | 3.8 | 114.5 | 20.2 | |
| December | 120.7 | 1.2 | 116.9 | 15.5 | 112.7 | 3.9 | 110.3 | 28.1 | |
2022 | January | 117.1 | -3.0 | 109.3 | 11.1 | 108.3 | -4.0 | 106.1 | 25.9 |
| February | 124.7 | 6.4 | 123.3 | 14.4 | 113.1 | 4.5 | 111.9 | 24.5 | |
Crisis Monitor enables comparison between Covid-19 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 Covid-19 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 Covid-19 pandemic.
Foreign trade results are available also in the Dashboard Germany (www.dashboard-deutschland.de) (only in german). This data portal of the Federal Statistical Office combines up-to-date indicators of official statistics and from other data providers on the topics of economy and finance as well as health and mobility.
