Press release No. 133 of 4 April 2023
Exports (calendar and seasonally adjusted exports of goods), February 2023
136.7 billion euros
+4.0% on the previous month
+7.6% on the same month a year earlier
Imports (calendar and seasonally adjusted imports of goods), February 2023
120.7 billion euros
+4.6% on the previous month
+3.8% on the same month a year earlier
Foreign trade balance (calendar and seasonally adjusted), February 2023
+16.0 billion euros
WIESBADEN – In February 2023, German exports were up by 4.0% and imports by 4.6% on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis compared with January 2023. Based on provisional data, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that exports increased by 7.6% and imports by 3.8% on February 2022.
After calendar and seasonal adjustment, Germany exported goods to the total value of 136.7 billion euros and imported goods to the value of 120.7 billion euros in February 2023. The foreign trade balance showed a surplus of 16.0 billion euros in February 2023. The calendar and seasonally adjusted surplus of the foreign trade balance had also been +16.0 billion euros in January 2023, in February 2022 it had totalled +10.7 billion euros.
Trade with EU countries
On a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis, Germany exported goods to the value of 73.9 billion euros to the Member States of the European Union (EU), while it imported goods to the value of 62.8 billion euros from the same countries in February 2023. Compared with January 2023, calendar and seasonally adjusted exports to EU countries rose by 2.0% and imports from those countries by 5.1%. The value of the goods exported to euro area countries in February 2023 totalled 52.2 billion euros (+1.6%) and the value of the goods imported from there was 41.7 billion euros (+3.3%). In February 2023, goods to the value of 21.7 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 21.1 billion euros (+8.8%), on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis.
Trade with non-EU countries
Exports of goods to countries outside the EU (third countries) amounted to 62.8 billion euros in February 2023, while imports from those countries totalled 57.9 billion euros on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis. Compared with January 2023, exports to third countries increased by 6.6% and imports from those countries by 4.0%.
Most German exports went to the United States in February 2023, with goods exports up 9.4% on January 2023 after seasonal and calendar adjustment. Exports to the United States thus rose to 14.0 billion euros. Exports to the People's Republic of China increased by 10.2% to 8.5 billion euros and exports to the United Kingdom by 2.5% to 6.3 billion euros.
Most imports came from the People's Republic of China in February 2023. Goods to the value of 13.6 billion euros were imported from there, which was a 6.7% increase compared with the previous month, after calendar and seasonal adjustment. Imports from the United States were down 8.7% to 7.6 billion euros. Imports from the United Kingdom dropped by 4.0% to 3.1 billion euros in the same period.
Exports to the Russian Federation declined a calendar and seasonally adjusted 14.3% to 0.9 billion euros in February 2023 compared with January 2023 and dropped 59.9% from February 2022. Imports from Russia fell 67.2% to 0.3 billion euros in February 2023 from January 2023.
Original foreign trade values (not adjusted for calendar or seasonal effects)
Germany exported goods to the value of 132.3 billion euros and imported goods to the value of 115.4 billion euros on a nominal basis (not adjusted for calendar or seasonal effects) in February 2023. Compared with February 2022, exports increased by 6.3% and imports by 2.6% in February 2023. The unadjusted foreign trade balance showed a surplus of 16.9 billion euros in February 2023. In February 2022, the surplus had been +12.1 billion euros.
Methodological notes:
The differing comparative periods must be taken into account in all press releases on short-term indicators. Short-term economic monitoring focuses on comparisons of seasonally and calendar adjusted figures with those of 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. The results of month-on-month, quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year comparisons may differ considerably at present because of the Covid-19 crisis and the war in Ukraine.
The results in this press release are provisional data from monthly foreign trade statistics. As detailed results are not available this early, it is not possible to provide information on the reasons for changes in foreign trade as a whole or in trade with individual countries or groups of countries.
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 draw upon 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 is limited, as they are based on original values and the seasonal and calendar effects included in them. Calendar and seasonal adjustment removes these effects. Detailed explanations on calendar and seasonal adjustment are included in the “Saisonbereinigung im Außenhandel“ (only in german) methodological paper. When evaluating calendar and seasonally adjusted values, it is important to remember that adjusted values are always “fictitious” calculated values. For this reason, a comparison between adjusted series and unadjusted (nominal) series does not make sense.
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.
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 from official statistics producers and other data providers on the topics of economy, finance, health and mobility. The portal also contains the Economic Pulse Monitor (Pulsmesser für die Wirtschaft) (only in german) tool, which can be used for real-time monitoring of the economic development.
Russia’s attack on Ukraine and the related sanctions are having an impact on many parts of the economy and society. Relevant data and information are provided on a special webpage (only in german) (www.destatis.de/ukraine).
| Item | February 2023 | January to February 2023 | Percentage change from | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 2023 | January to February 2022 | |||
| billion euro | % | |||
| Total exports | 136.7 | 268.1 | 4.0 | 8.4 |
| including: | ||||
| EU Member States | 73.9 | 146.3 | 2.0 | 10.0 |
| Euro-zone | 52.2 | 103.6 | 1.6 | 11.2 |
| Non-euro-zone | 21.7 | 42.7 | 2.9 | 7.4 |
| Third countries | 62.8 | 121.8 | 6.6 | 6.5 |
| including: | ||||
| Russian Federation | 0.9 | 1.9 | -14.3 | -59.9 |
| Total imports | 120.7 | 236.1 | 4.6 | 5.2 |
| including: | ||||
| EU Member States | 62.8 | 122.5 | 5.1 | 7.4 |
| Euro-zone | 41.7 | 82.1 | 3.3 | 2.9 |
| Non-euro-zone | 21.1 | 40.4 | 8.8 | 17.7 |
| Third countries | 57.9 | 113.6 | 4.0 | 2.9 |
| including: | ||||
| Russian Federation | 0.3 | 1.3 | -67.2 | -82.8 |
| 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 % | ||
2022 | January | 120.3 | 0.0 | 111.7 | 12.9 | 108.2 | -5.0 | 106.3 | 26.1 |
| February | 127.0 | 5.6 | 124.5 | 15.4 | 116.3 | 7.5 | 112.4 | 25.1 | |
| March | 123.5 | -2.8 | 139.7 | 9.2 | 119.5 | 2.8 | 130.5 | 22.8 | |
| April | 128.5 | 4.1 | 124.2 | 10.3 | 124.2 | 3.9 | 121.9 | 26.1 | |
| May | 131.4 | 2.2 | 136.0 | 23.3 | 126.6 | 1.9 | 131.1 | 34.9 | |
| June | 133.8 | 1.8 | 136.6 | 14.7 | 127.4 | 0.6 | 128.6 | 25.1 | |
| July | 131.7 | -1.6 | 128.1 | 10.9 | 128.0 | 0.5 | 123.2 | 26.6 | |
| August | 135.6 | 3.0 | 129.1 | 23.5 | 134.4 | 5.0 | 128.8 | 38.1 | |
| September | 134.5 | -0.8 | 142.3 | 20.3 | 131.8 | -1.9 | 134.4 | 31.7 | |
| October | 135.8 | 1.0 | 135.6 | 11.7 | 129.2 | -2.0 | 130.7 | 20.0 | |
| November | 136.4 | 0.5 | 144.1 | 14.4 | 125.0 | -3.3 | 132.3 | 15.4 | |
| December | 128.1 | -6.1 | 124.6 | 6.5 | 117.1 | -6.3 | 113.9 | 2.9 | |
2023 | January | 131.4 | 2.5 | 126.0 | 12.8 | 115.4 | -1.4 | 116.0 | 9.1 |
| February | 136.7 | 4.0 | 132.3 | 6.3 | 120.7 | 4.6 | 115.4 | 2.6 | |
