Press release No. 439 of 9 December 2025
Exports (calendar and seasonally adjusted exports of goods), October 2025
131.3 billion euros
+0.1% on the previous month
+4.2% on the same month a year earlier
Imports (calendar and seasonally adjusted imports of goods), October 2025
114.5 billion euros
-1.2% on the previous month
+2.8% on the same month a year earlier
Foreign trade balance (calendar and seasonally adjusted), October 2025
16.9 billion euros
WIESBADEN – In October 2025, German exports were up 0.1% while imports were down 1.2% on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis compared with September 2025. Compared with October 2024, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) further reports that exports increased by 4.2% and imports rose by 2.8%, based on provisional data.
After calendar and seasonal adjustment, Germany exported goods to the value of 131.3 billion euros and imported goods to the value of 114.5 billion euros in October 2025. The foreign trade balance thus showed a surplus of 16.9 billion euros in October 2025. The calendar and seasonally adjusted surplus stood at 15.3 billion euros in September 2025. In October 2024, the surplus was 14.6 billion euros.
Trade with EU countries
On a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis, Germany exported goods to the value of 76.3 billion euros to the Member States of the European Union (EU) in October 2025, while it imported goods to the value of 61.1 billion euros from these countries in the same period. Compared with September 2025, calendar and seasonally adjusted exports to EU countries rose by 2.7% and imports from these countries increased by 2.8%. The value of the goods exported to euro area countries totalled 53.0 billion euros (+2.5%), and the value of the goods imported from these countries was 40.6 billion euros (+3.9%). Goods to the value of 23.3 billion euros (+3.1%) were exported to EU countries not belonging to the euro area, while the value of the goods imported from those countries was 20.5 billion euros (+0.7%).
Trade with non-EU countries
Exports of goods to countries outside the EU (third countries) amounted to 55.1 billion euros in October 2025, while imports from these countries totalled 53.4 billion euros, on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis. Compared with September 2025, exports to third countries declined by 3.3% and imports from third countries fell by 5.4%.
Most German exports in October 2025 went to the United States, with goods exports totalling 11.3 billion euros after seasonal and calendar adjustment. This represented a decrease of 7.8% on September 2025. Exports to the United States therefore declined again in October 2025, after having increased month on month in September 2025. Compared with October 2024, exports to the United States were down 8.3% on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis. Exports to the People’s Republic of China in October 2025 decreased by 5.8% to 6.3 billion euros compared with September 2025. Month on month, exports to the United Kingdom decreased by 6.5% to 6.5 billion euros.
Most imports in October 2025 came from the People's Republic of China. Goods to the value of 13.8 billion euros were imported from there, on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis. This was a decrease of 5.2% compared with the previous month. Imports from the United States decreased by 16.6% to 7.2 billion euros. Imports from the United Kingdom dropped by 14.5% to 3.1 billion euros during the same period.
After seasonal and calendar adjustment, exports to the Russian Federation increased by 4.8% to 0.6 billion euros in October 2025 from September 2025. Compared with October 2024, they were down 0.3%. Imports from Russia declined by 10.6% to 0.1 billion euros in October 2025 compared with September 2025 and were down 34.7% from October 2024.
Original foreign trade values (not adjusted for calendar or seasonal effects)
Germany exported goods to the value of 139.1 billion euros and imported goods to the value of 121.8 billion euros on a nominal basis (not adjusted for calendar or seasonal effects) in October 2025. Compared with October 2024, exports therefore increased by 4.1% and imports were up 2.8%. The unadjusted foreign trade balance showed a surplus of 17.3 billion euros in October 2025. In October 2024, the surplus was 15.1 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 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 | October 2025 | January to October 2025 | Percentage change from | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 2025 | January to October 2024 | |||
| billion euros | % | |||
| Total exports | 131.3 | 1,308.3 | 0.1 | 1.1 |
| including: | ||||
| EU Member States | 76.3 | 728.2 | 2.7 | 3.8 |
| Euro area | 53.0 | 506.8 | 2.5 | 3.9 |
| Non-euro area | 23.3 | 221.5 | 3.1 | 3.8 |
| Third countries | 55.1 | 580.0 | -3.3 | -2.3 |
| including: | ||||
| United States | 11.3 | 124.4 | -7.8 | -7.5 |
| China | 6.3 | 68.0 | -5.8 | -11.5 |
| United Kingdom | 6.5 | 67.2 | -6.5 | 0.4 |
| Russian Federation | 0.6 | 5.8 | 4.8 | -7.7 |
| Total imports | 114.5 | 1 139.3 | -1.2 | 4.6 |
| including: | ||||
| EU Member States | 61.1 | 587.8 | 2.8 | 3.2 |
| Euro area | 40.6 | 387.9 | 3.9 | 2.4 |
| Non-euro area | 20.5 | 199.8 | 0.7 | 4.7 |
| Third countries | 53.4 | 551.5 | -5.4 | 6.0 |
| including: | ||||
| United States | 7.2 | 79.3 | -16.6 | 2.6 |
| China | 13.8 | 140.7 | -5.2 | 8.3 |
| United Kingdom | 3.1 | 32.2 | -14.5 | 6.6 |
| Russian Federation | 0.1 | 1.0 | -10.6 | -34.2 |
| Year | Month | Exports | Imports | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| calendar and seasonally adjusted value | original value | calendar and seasonally adjusted value | original value | ||||||
| in billion euros | change on previous month, % | in billion euros | change on the same month of the previous year, % | in billion euros | change on previous month, % | in billion euros | change on the same month of the previous year, % | ||
2024 | January | 129.8 | 1.5 | 126.8 | -1.7 | 104.6 | -3.7 | 104.4 | -11.7 |
| February | 131.0 | 1.0 | 132.2 | 0.1 | 109.3 | 4.5 | 108.3 | -4.5 | |
| March | 129.8 | -0.9 | 134.3 | -11.5 | 110.2 | 0.9 | 112.5 | -12.1 | |
| April | 134.2 | 3.4 | 138.8 | 15.3 | 112.1 | 1.7 | 115.1 | 8.3 | |
| May | 129.1 | -3.8 | 126.7 | -4.6 | 107.1 | -4.5 | 105.9 | -10.9 | |
| June | 127.1 | -1.6 | 128.5 | -8.5 | 106.2 | -0.9 | 106.6 | -9.8 | |
| July | 128.4 | 1.1 | 133.2 | 4.7 | 109.3 | 3.0 | 112.9 | 2.4 | |
| August | 130.6 | 1.6 | 120.3 | -3.2 | 108.7 | -0.6 | 101.9 | -3.1 | |
| September | 128.6 | -1.5 | 130.5 | 0.3 | 110.6 | 1.8 | 111.8 | 0.9 | |
| October | 126.0 | -2.0 | 133.6 | 0.5 | 111.4 | 0.7 | 118.5 | 4.4 | |
| November | 129.2 | 2.5 | 132.9 | -5.1 | 109.1 | -2.0 | 112.1 | -3.8 | |
| December | 129.8 | 0.5 | 111.9 | -2.0 | 110.0 | 0.8 | 96.8 | -1.3 | |
2025 | January | 129.7 | -0.0 | 125.1 | -1.3 | 113.8 | 3.5 | 112.3 | 7.6 |
| February | 131.2 | 1.1 | 129.9 | -1.7 | 113.7 | -0.1 | 111.0 | 2.5 | |
| March | 133.1 | 1.5 | 140.6 | 4.7 | 113.3 | -0.4 | 117.4 | 4.4 | |
| April | 131.7 | -1.1 | 131.8 | -5.0 | 115.4 | 1.8 | 115.6 | 0.4 | |
| May | 129.9 | -1.4 | 130.4 | 2.9 | 111.6 | -3.3 | 112.4 | 6.1 | |
| June | 130.6 | 0.5 | 129.0 | 0.4 | 114.8 | 2.8 | 113.0 | 6.0 | |
| July | 130.3 | -0.2 | 135.0 | 1.4 | 113.9 | -0.7 | 117.8 | 4.4 | |
| August | 129.3 | -0.7 | 115.3 | -4.1 | 112.4 | -1.3 | 102.8 | 0.9 | |
| September | 131.2 | 1.5 | 137.5 | 5.4 | 115.9 | 3.1 | 120.2 | 7.5 | |
| October | 131.3 | 0.1 | 139.1 | 4.1 | 114.5 | -1.2 | 121.8 | 2.8 | |
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 October 2025 will be provided in GENESIS-Online (Tables 51000) as of 19 December 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.