Press release No. 221 of 7 June 2024
Exports (calendar and seasonally adjusted exports of goods), April 2024
136.5 billion euros
+1.6% on the previous month
+1.9% on the same month a year earlier
Imports (calendar and seasonally adjusted imports of goods), April 2024
114.5 billion euros
+2.0% on the previous month
-0.6% on the same month a year earlier
Foreign trade balance (calendar and seasonally adjusted), April 2024
+22.1 billion euros
WIESBADEN – In April 2024, German exports were up 1.6% and imports rose by 2.0% on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis compared with March 2024. Based on provisional data, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that exports increased by 1.9% from April 2023, while imports fell by 0.6% year on year.
After calendar and seasonal adjustment, Germany exported goods to the total value of 136.5 billion euros and imported goods to the value of 114.5 billion euros in April 2024. The foreign trade balance showed a surplus of 22.1 billion euros in April 2024. The calendar and seasonally adjusted surplus stood at 22.2 billion euros in March 2024 and 18.7 billion euros in April 2023.
Trade with EU countries
On a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis, Germany exported goods to the value of 74.1 billion euros to the Member States of the European Union (EU) in April 2024, while it imported goods to the value of 61.3 billion euros from these countries in the same period. Compared with March 2024, calendar and seasonally adjusted exports to EU countries rose by 1.2% and imports from these countries increased by 4.3%. The value of the goods exported to euro area countries in April 2024 totalled 51.6 billion euros (+1.8%), and the value of the goods imported from these countries was 40.7 billion euros (+4.4%). In April 2024, goods to the value of 22.5 billion euros (-0.1%) were exported to EU countries not belonging to the euro area, while the value of the goods imported from these countries was 20.5 billion euros (+3.9%), on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis.
Trade with non-EU countries
Exports of goods to countries outside the EU (third countries) amounted to 62.4 billion euros in April 2024, while imports from these countries totalled 53.2 billion euros, on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis. Compared with March 2024, exports to third countries increased by 2.0%, while imports from those countries declined by 0.4%.
Most German exports in April 2024 went to the United States. After seasonal and calendar adjustment, exports of goods to the United States were down 1.2% compared with March 2024, with the value of exports to the United States dropping to 14.2 billion euros. Exports to the People's Republic of China increased by 0.8% to 8.4 billion euros and exports to the United Kingdom rose by 15.4% to 7.4 billion euros.
Most imports in April 2024 came from the People's Republic of China. Goods to the value of 12.8 billion euros were imported from there, which represented a 7.8% decrease compared with the previous month, after calendar and seasonal adjustment. Imports from the United States dropped by 1.0% to 7.5 billion euros. Imports from the United Kingdom increased by 8.8% to 3.0 billion euros during the same period.
After seasonal and calendar adjustment, exports to the Russian Federation increased by 17.3% to 0.7 billion euros in April 2024 from March 2024. Compared with April 2023, when exports to Russia had already decreased sharply as a result of the Russian attack on Ukraine, exports fell by 10.5%. Imports from Russia dropped by 2.9% to 0.2 billion euros in April 2024 from March 2024, and were down 43.1% compared with April 2023.
Original foreign trade values (not adjusted for calendar or seasonal effects)
Germany exported goods to the value of 140.7 billion euros and imported goods to the value of 117.2 billion euros on a nominal basis (not adjusted for calendar or seasonal effects) in April 2024. Compared with April 2023, exports in April 2024 therefore increased by 12.3% and imports rose by 6.6%. The unadjusted foreign trade balance showed a surplus of 23.6 billion euros in April 2024. In April 2023, the surplus was 15.3 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 quarter. These reflect short-term economic trends. Year-on-year comparisons of calendar adjusted results enable long-term comparisons of levels and are not influenced by seasonal fluctuations or calendar effects. The results of month-on-month, quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year comparisons may differ considerably due to the Covid-19 crisis and the war in Ukraine.
Detailed explanations on calendar and seasonal adjustment are included in the "Saisonbereinigung im Außenhandel" methodological paper (only in German). Calendar and seasonally adjusted values are always notional calculated values. For this reason, a comparison between adjusted series and unadjusted (nominal) series would serve little purpose.
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.
| Item | April 2024 | January to April 2024 | Percentage change from | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2024 | January to April 2023 | |||
| billion euros | % | |||
| Total exports | 136.5 | 539.2 | 1.6 | -0.3 |
| including: | ||||
| EU Member States | 74.1 | 296.1 | 1.2 | -0.4 |
| Euro area | 51.6 | 205.8 | 1.8 | -1.7 |
| Non-euro area | 22.5 | 90.4 | -0.1 | 2.8 |
| Third countries | 62.4 | 243.1 | 2.0 | -0.1 |
| including: | ||||
| Russian Federation | 0.7 | 2.6 | 17.3 | -25.7 |
| Total imports | 114.5 | 446.7 | 2.0 | -5.1 |
| including: | ||||
| EU Member States | 61.3 | 239.3 | 4.3 | -2.1 |
| Euro area | 40.7 | 158.8 | 4.4 | -3.0 |
| Non-euro area | 20.5 | 80.5 | 3.9 | -0.3 |
| Third countries | 53.2 | 207.4 | -0.4 | -8.2 |
| including: | ||||
| Russian Federation | 0.2 | 0.7 | -2.9 | -62.5 |
| 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, % | value in billion euros | change on the same month of the previous year, % | value in billion euros | change on previous month, % | value in billion euros | change on the same month of the previous year, % | ||
| 2023 | January | 135.1 | 2.9 | 129.0 | 14.9 | 117.8 | 0.2 | 117.3 | 9.3 |
| February | 139.1 | 2.9 | 135.5 | 7.7 | 122.2 | 3.7 | 117.0 | 3.4 | |
| March | 132.5 | -4.7 | 149.2 | 5.9 | 115.3 | -5.6 | 124.9 | -4.9 | |
| April | 134.0 | 1.1 | 125.3 | 0.1 | 115.2 | -0.1 | 109.9 | -10.6 | |
| May | 133.7 | -0.2 | 134.1 | -1.9 | 116.9 | 1.5 | 118.9 | -10.0 | |
| June | 133.6 | -0.1 | 141.5 | 2.4 | 114.6 | -2.0 | 118.5 | -8.5 | |
| July | 131.6 | -1.5 | 128.1 | -1.1 | 113.3 | -1.1 | 109.1 | -12.1 | |
| August | 131.8 | 0.2 | 125.7 | -3.7 | 113.0 | -0.2 | 108.7 | -16.2 | |
| September | 128.9 | -2.2 | 131.6 | -8.8 | 111.1 | -1.8 | 111.2 | -17.8 | |
| October | 128.8 | -0.1 | 133.3 | -3.2 | 110.0 | -1.0 | 114.1 | -13.3 | |
| November | 133.6 | 3.7 | 141.7 | -3.1 | 111.7 | 1.6 | 118.2 | -11.3 | |
| December | 127.6 | -4.5 | 115.2 | -9.1 | 104.7 | -6.3 | 97.9 | -14.9 | |
2024 | January | 135.3 | 6.0 | 130.8 | 1.3 | 108.3 | 3.5 | 108.8 | -7.3 |
| February | 133.0 | -1.7 | 133.9 | -1.1 | 111.7 | 3.1 | 109.3 | -6.6 | |
| March | 134.4 | 1.1 | 137.1 | -8.1 | 112.2 | 0.5 | 113.2 | -9.3 | |
| April | 136.5 | 1.6 | 140.7 | 12.3 | 114.5 | 2.0 | 117.2 | 6.6 | |
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 download.
Foreign trade results are also available on 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 the economy, finance, health and mobility. The portal also contains the Economic Pulse Monitor (Pulsmesser für die Wirtschaft) (only in German) tool for real-time economic monitoring.
