Press release No. 163 of 8 May 2025
Exports (calendar and seasonally adjusted exports of goods), March 2025
133.2 billion euros
+1.1% on the previous month
+2.3% on the same month a year earlier
Imports (calendar and seasonally adjusted imports of goods), March 2025
112.1 billion euros
-1.4% on the previous month
+2.3% on the same month a year earlier
Foreign trade balance (calendar and seasonally adjusted), March 2025
21.1 billion euros
WIESBADEN – In March 2025, German exports were up 1.1% while imports were down 1.4% on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis compared with February 2025. Based on provisional data, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that exports increased by 2.3% and imports were also up by 2.3% compared with March 2024.
After calendar and seasonal adjustment, Germany exported goods to the value of 133.2 billion euros and imported goods to the value of 112.1 billion euros in March 2025. The foreign trade balance thus showed a surplus of 21.1 billion euros in March 2025. The calendar and seasonally adjusted surplus stood at 18.0 billion euros in February 2025. In March 2024, the surplus was 20.5 billion euros.
Trade with EU countries
On a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis, Germany exported goods to the value of 72.3 billion euros to the Member States of the European Union (EU) in March 2025, while it imported goods to the value of 56.9 billion euros from these countries in the same period. Compared with February 2025, calendar and seasonally adjusted exports to EU countries rose by 3.1%, while imports from these countries fell by 3.5%. The value of the goods exported to euro area countries totalled 50.3 billion euros (+3.8%), and the value of the goods imported from these countries was 37.1 billion euros (-5.8%). Goods to the value of 22.0 billion euros (+1.6%) were exported to EU countries not belonging to the euro area, while the value of the goods imported from those countries was 19.8 billion euros (+1.1%).
Trade with non-EU countries
Exports of goods to countries outside the EU (third countries) amounted to 60.9 billion euros in March 2025, while imports from these countries totalled 55.2 billion euros, on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis. Compared with February 2025, exports to third countries declined by 1.1% while imports from third countries rose by 0.8%.
Most German exports in March 2025 went to the United States. After seasonal and calendar adjustment, exports of goods to the United States were up 2.4% compared with February 2025, with the value of exports to the United States rising to 14.6 billion euros. Exports to the People’s Republic of China increased by 10.2% to 7.5 billion euros. Exports to the United Kingdom fell by 2.8% to 6.4 billion euros.
Most imports in March 2025 came from the People's Republic of China. Goods to the value of 14.7 billion euros were imported from there, on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis. This was an increase of 9.6% compared with the previous month. Imports from the United States rose by 7.9% to 8.1 billion euros. Imports from the United Kingdom dropped by 5.8% to 3.2 billion euros during the same period.
After calendar and seasonal adjustment, exports to the Russian Federation increased by 6.3% to 0.6 billion euros in March 2025 from February 2025 and were up 11.9% from March 2024. Imports from Russia rose by 9.8% to 0.1 billion euros in March 2025 compared with February 2025 and were up 38.6% from March 2024.
Original foreign trade values (not adjusted for calendar or seasonal effects)
Germany exported goods to the value of 140.1 billion euros and imported goods to the value of 116.8 billion euros on a nominal basis (not adjusted for calendar or seasonal effects) in March 2025. Compared with March 2024, exports increased by 4.3% and imports by 3.9%. The unadjusted foreign trade balance showed a surplus of 23.3 billion euros in March 2025. In March 2024, the surplus was 21.8 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.
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 | March 2025 | January to March 2025 | Percentage change from | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 2025 | January to March 2024 | |||
| billion euros | % | |||
| Total exports | 133.2 | 394.3 | 1.1 | 0.9 |
| including: | ||||
| EU Member States | 72.3 | 212.2 | 3.1 | 0.5 |
| Euro area | 50.3 | 147.2 | 3.8 | 0.4 |
| Non-euro area | 22.0 | 65.0 | 1.6 | 1.0 |
| Third countries | 60.9 | 182.1 | -1.1 | 1.3 |
| including: | ||||
| Russian Federation | 0.6 | 1.9 | 6.3 | -4.0 |
| Total imports | 112.1 | 339.0 | -1.4 | 5.1 |
| including: | ||||
| EU Member States | 56.9 | 173.2 | -3.5 | 1.8 |
| Euro area | 37.1 | 114.2 | -5.8 | 1.5 |
| Non-euro area | 19.8 | 59.0 | 1.1 | 2.2 |
| Third countries | 55.2 | 165.8 | 0.8 | 8.9 |
| including: | ||||
| Russian Federation | 0.1 | 0.3 | 9.8 | -42.0 |
| 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, % | ||
2024 | January | 129.3 | 1.5 | 126.7 | -1.7 | 104.0 | -2.1 | 104.5 | -11.6 |
| February | 131.4 | 1.6 | 132.2 | 0.1 | 108.8 | 4.6 | 108.1 | -4.8 | |
| March | 130.1 | -0.9 | 134.3 | -11.6 | 109.6 | 0.7 | 112.5 | -12.1 | |
| April | 133.8 | 2.8 | 138.7 | 15.3 | 112.2 | 2.4 | 115.3 | 8.4 | |
| May | 128.8 | -3.7 | 126.7 | -4.6 | 106.6 | -5.0 | 106.1 | -10.7 | |
| June | 127.5 | -1.1 | 128.5 | -8.5 | 107.2 | 0.6 | 106.9 | -9.6 | |
| July | 128.4 | 0.7 | 133.2 | 4.7 | 110.7 | 3.3 | 113.0 | 2.5 | |
| August | 130.4 | 1.5 | 120.3 | -3.2 | 109.3 | -1.3 | 102.0 | -3.0 | |
| September | 128.6 | -1.4 | 130.5 | 0.3 | 111.3 | 1.8 | 111.9 | 1.0 | |
| October | 125.3 | -2.5 | 132.9 | -0.0 | 112.2 | 0.9 | 118.6 | 4.4 | |
| November | 129.2 | 3.1 | 132.6 | -5.4 | 110.0 | -2.0 | 112.2 | -3.8 | |
| December | 129.3 | 0.1 | 111.8 | -2.0 | 107.7 | -2.1 | 97.0 | -1.2 | |
2025 | January | 129.4 | 0.1 | 125.2 | -1.2 | 113.1 | 5.0 | 112.3 | 7.5 |
| February | 131.7 | 1.8 | 130.0 | -1.6 | 113.8 | 0.5 | 111.4 | 3.0 | |
| March | 133.2 | 1.1 | 140.1 | 4.3 | 112.1 | -1.4 | 116.8 | 3.9 | |
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. Full detailed results for reference month March 2025 will be provided in GENESIS-Online (Tables 51000) as of 20 May 2025.
Foreign trade results can also be found on the Economic Dashboard, which is part of Dashboard Germany (www.dashboard-deutschland.de) (only in German). In this data portal, the Federal Statistical Office brings together up-to-date indicators from official statistics producers and other data providers on the topics of the labour market, construction, housing, energy and Ukraine. The portal also contains the Economic Pulse Monitor (Pulsmesser für die Wirtschaft) (only in German) tool for real-time economic monitoring.
Important information regarding the GENESIS-Online database:
Our database's new user interface has been available as the main interface version since November 2024. The old interface can still be used to retrieve data for large tables as this is not yet possible in the new version.
