Press release No. 047 of 8 February 2019
Exports, December 2018
96.1 billion euros
+1.5% on the previous month (calendar and seasonally adjusted)
-4.5% on the same month a year earlier
Imports, December 2018
82.1 billion euros
+1.2% on the previous month (calendar and seasonally adjusted)
+0.0% on the same month a year earlier
Foreign trade balance, December 2018
13.9 billion euros
19.4 billion euros (calendar and seasonally adjusted)
Current account according to calculations of the Deutsche Bundesbank, December 2018
21.0 billion euros
WIESBADEN – In 2018, Germany exported goods to the value of 1,317.9 billion euros and imported goods to the value of 1,090.0 billion euros. Based on provisional data, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that German exports increased by 3.0% and imports by 5.7% in 2018 year on year. Exports and imports in 2018 exceeded the record highs recorded in 2017 when goods had been exported to the value of 1,279.0 billion euros and imported to the value of 1,031.0 billion euros.
The foreign trade balance showed a surplus of 227.8 billion euros in 2018. In 2017, the surplus of the foreign trade balance was 247.9 billion euros.
According to provisional results of the Deutsche Bundesbank, the current account of the balance of payments showed a surplus of 249.1 billion euros in 2018, which takes into account the balances of trade in goods including supplementary trade items (+242.0 billion euros), services (-16.7 billion euros), primary income (+71.1 billion euros) and secondary income (-47.3 billion euros). In 2017, the German current account showed a surplus of 261.2 billion euros.
In 2018, Germany exported goods to the value of 778.7 billion euros to the Member States of the European Union (EU), while it imported goods to the value of 623.0 billion euros from those countries. Compared with 2017, exports to the EU countries increased by 3.8%, and imports from those countries by 6.3%. Goods to the value of 492.0 billion euros (+4.5%) were dispatched to the Euro area countries in 2018, while the value of the goods received from those countries was 405.0 billion euros (+6.9%). In 2018, goods to the value of 286.7 billion euros (+2.8%) were exported to EU countries not belonging to the Euro area, while the value of the goods imported from those countries was 218.1 billion euros (+5.2%).
Exports of goods to countries outside the European Union (third countries) amounted to 539.2 billion euros in 2018, while imports from those countries totalled 467.0 billion euros. Compared with 2017, exports to third countries increased by 1.9% and imports from those countries by 5.0%.
In December 2018, Germany exported goods to the value of 96.1 billion euros (-4.5% compared with December 2017) and imported goods to the value of 82.1 billion euros (nearly unchanged on the same month a year earlier).
After calendar and seasonal adjustment, exports were up 1.5% and imports 1.2% compared with November 2018.
| Item | Decem- ber | January to December | Novem- ber | Decem- ber | January to December |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 2017 | ||||
| 1 According to calculations of the Deutsche Bundesbank | |||||
| Foreign trade | |||||
| 1 Exports (f.o.b.) | 96.1 | 1,317.9 | 116.4 | 100.5 | 1,279.0 |
| 2 Imports (c.i.f.) | 82.1 | 1,090.0 | 96.0 | 82.1 | 1,031.0 |
| 3 Foreign trade balance (1-2) | 13.9 | 227.8 | 20.4 | 18.4 | 247.9 |
| Transition to trade in goods1 | |||||
| 4 Supplementary trade items | -1.8 | 14.1 | -0.9 | 0.3 | 20.9 |
| Current account balances1 | |||||
| 5 Trade in goods (3+4) | 12.1 | 242.0 | 19.5 | 18.8 | 268.9 |
| 6 Services | 1.7 | -16.7 | 0.7 | 3.0 | -20.9 |
| 7 Primary income | 12.5 | 71.1 | 7.1 | 11.7 | 67.4 |
| 8 Secondary income | -5.4 | -47.3 | -5.6 | -5.0 | -54.1 |
| Current account (5+6+7+8) | 21.0 | 249.1 | 21.6 | 28.4 | 261.2 |
| Item | December 2018 | January to December 2018 | change on | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 2017 | January to December 2017 | |||
| billion euro | % | |||
| Total exports | 96.1 | 1,317.9 | -4.5 | 3.0 |
| including: | ||||
| EU Member States | 55.2 | 778.7 | -4.6 | 3.8 |
| Euro-zone | 35.3 | 492.0 | -4.1 | 4.5 |
| Non-euro-zone | 19.9 | 286.7 | -5.5 | 2.8 |
| Third countries | 40.9 | 539.2 | -4.3 | 1.9 |
| Total imports | 82.1 | 1,090.0 | 0.0 | 5.7 |
| including: | ||||
| EU Member States | 47.3 | 623.0 | 1.2 | 6.3 |
| Euro-zone | 31.4 | 405.0 | 3.0 | 6.9 |
| Non-euro-zone | 15.9 | 218.1 | -2.1 | 5.2 |
| Third countries | 34.8 | 467.0 | -1.6 | 5.0 |
| Year | Month | Exports | Imports | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| original value | calendar and seasonally adjusted value 1 | original value | calendar and seasonally adjusted value 1 | ||||||
| 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 % | value in billion euros | change on previous month in % | ||
| 1 Using Census X-12-ARIMA | |||||||||
| 2017 | January | 98.8 | 11.3 | 103.1 | 2.3 | 83.7 | 11.2 | 84.2 | 2.3 |
| February | 102.4 | 3.9 | 105.5 | 2.3 | 82.1 | 3.4 | 84.0 | -0.1 | |
| March | 118.1 | 11.0 | 105.1 | -0.4 | 92.8 | 14.6 | 85.7 | 1.9 | |
| April | 100.8 | -3.0 | 106.0 | 0.9 | 82.8 | 5.1 | 86.2 | 0.7 | |
| May | 110.5 | 14.1 | 107.2 | 1.1 | 88.4 | 15.9 | 86.8 | 0.7 | |
| June | 107.2 | 1.0 | 105.1 | -1.9 | 84.8 | 3.4 | 84.1 | -3.2 | |
| July | 103.1 | 7.6 | 105.5 | 0.4 | 84.1 | 9.3 | 85.2 | 1.3 | |
| August | 103.0 | 7.3 | 107.9 | 2.2 | 82.7 | 7.9 | 86.4 | 1.5 | |
| September | 110.3 | 4.5 | 107.9 | 0.0 | 86.1 | 5.2 | 85.7 | -0.9 | |
| October | 108.0 | 6.9 | 107.4 | -0.4 | 88.9 | 8.1 | 87.0 | 1.6 | |
| November | 116.3 | 8.0 | 110.8 | 3.1 | 92.4 | 7.9 | 88.5 | 1.7 | |
| December | 100.5 | 3.5 | 110.8 | 0.0 | 82.1 | 4.2 | 89.3 | 0.9 | |
2018 | January | 107.1 | 8.4 | 110.5 | -0.3 | 89.9 | 7.4 | 89.6 | 0.3 |
| February | 104.7 | 2.3 | 108.0 | -2.3 | 86.5 | 5.2 | 88.5 | -1.2 | |
| March | 116.1 | -1.7 | 109.5 | 1.4 | 91.5 | -1.4 | 88.0 | -0.6 | |
| April | 110.2 | 9.4 | 109.3 | -0.2 | 89.8 | 8.5 | 89.8 | 2.1 | |
| May | 109.1 | -1.3 | 111.0 | 1.6 | 89.0 | 0.7 | 90.4 | 0.7 | |
| June | 115.3 | 7.6 | 110.9 | -0.1 | 93.4 | 10.1 | 91.4 | 1.1 | |
| July | 111.0 | 7.6 | 110.3 | -0.6 | 94.6 | 12.5 | 93.8 | 2.6 | |
| August | 105.4 | 2.4 | 110.4 | 0.1 | 87.7 | 6.1 | 91.7 | -2.2 | |
| September | 109.2 | -1.1 | 110.0 | -0.4 | 91.0 | 5.7 | 92.4 | 0.7 | |
| October | 117.4 | 8.7 | 111.0 | 0.9 | 98.4 | 10.8 | 93.1 | 0.8 | |
| November | 116.4 | 0.1 | 110.7 | -0.3 | 96.0 | 3.9 | 91.8 | -1.3 | |
| Dezember | 96.1 | -4.5 | 112.3 | 1.5 | 82.1 | 0.0 | 92.9 | 1.2 | |
First detailed provisional results by country of origin/country of destination and by chapter of the Commodity Classification for Foreign Trade Statistics as well as a comparative table based on the country of origin/country of consignment concepts are available for downloading (only in German).
