Press release No. 206 of 9 June 2020
Exports, April 2020
75.7 billion euros
-24.0% on the previous month (calendar and seasonally adjusted)
-31.1% on the same month a year earlier
Imports, April 2020
72.2 billion euros
-16.5% on the previous month (calendar and seasonally adjusted)
-21.6% on the same month a year earlier
Foreign trade balance, April 2020
3.5 billion euros
3.2 billion euros (calendar and seasonally adjusted)
Current account according to calculations of the Deutsche Bundesbank, April 2020
7.7 billion euros
WIESBADEN – Germany exported goods to the value of 75.7 billion euros and imported goods to the value of 72.2 billion euros in April 2020. Based on provisional data, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that exports decreased by 31.1% and imports by 21.6% in April 2020 year on year. That was the largest decline of exports in a month compared with the same month a year earlier since the introduction of foreign trade statistics in 1950. The last time German imports went down that much was in July 2009 during the financial crisis (-23.6%).
After calendar and seasonal adjustment, exports were down 24.0% and imports 16.5% compared with March 2020. For both exports and imports, this was the strongest month-on-month decline after calendar and seasonal adjustment since the beginning of the time series in August 1990.
The foreign trade balance showed a surplus of 3.5 billion euros in April 2020. That was the lowest export surplus shown for Germany since December 2000 (+1.7 billion euros). In April 2019, the surplus was 17.8 billion euros. In calendar and seasonally adjusted terms, the foreign trade balance recorded a surplus of 3.2 billion euros in April 2020.
The German current account of the balance of payments showed a surplus of 7.7 billion euros in April 2020, which takes into account the balances of trade in goods (+2.8 billion euros), services (+0.3 billion euros), primary income (+8.9 billion euros) and secondary income (-4.3 billion euros). In April 2019, the German current account showed a surplus of 20.6 billion euros.
Trade with EU countries
In April 2020, Germany exported goods to the value of 38.2 billion euros to the Member States of the European Union (EU), while it imported goods to the value of 35.2 billion euros from those countries. Compared with April 2019, exports to the EU countries decreased by 34.8% and imports from those countries by 30.1%. Goods to the value of 26.4 billion euros (-36.7%) were exported to the Euro area countries in April 2020, while the value of the goods imported from those countries was 24.8 billion euros (-28.9%). In April 2020, goods to the value of 11.8 billion euros (-29.9%) were exported to EU countries not belonging to the Euro area, and the value of the goods imported from those countries was 10.4 billion euros (-32.9%).
Trade with non-EU countries
Exports of goods to countries outside the European Union (third countries) amounted to 37.5 billion euros in April 2020, while imports from those countries totalled 37.0 billion euros. Compared with April 2019, exports to third countries decreased by 27.0% and imports from those countries by 11.4%.
Impact of the corona pandemic on trade with selected countries
The degree to which exports were affected depended on the trading partner. While exports to the People's Republic of China decreased rather moderately by 12.6% to 7.2 billion euros in April 2020, exports to the countries hit particularly hard by the coronavirus pandemic dropped sharply from April 2019: France (-48.3%), Italy (-40.1%) and the United States (-35.8%).
Most imports came to Germany from the People's Republic of China in April 2020, with goods to the value of 9.4 billion euros, which is 10.0% more than in April 2019. Imports from the United States rose by 2.4% to 5.9 billion euros in April 2020. There was a considerable decline in German imports from France (-37.3% to 3.5 billion euros) and Italy (-32.5% to 3.2 billion euros).
| Item | April | January to April | March | April | January to April |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 2019 | ||||
| 1 According to calculations of the Deutsche Bundesbank. | |||||
| Foreign trade | |||||
| 1 Exports (f.o.b.) | 75.7 | 400.7 | 109.1 | 110.0 | 445.9 |
| 2 Imports (c.i.f.) | 72.2 | 345.4 | 91.7 | 92.2 | 373.5 |
| 3 Foreign trade balance (1-2) | 3.5 | 55.3 | 17.4 | 17.8 | 72.4 |
| Transition to trade in goods 1 | |||||
| 4 Supplementary trade items | -0.8 | 1.7 | 1.5 | -0.3 | 1.9 |
| Current account balances 1 | |||||
| 5 Trade in goods (3+4) | 2.8 | 57.0 | 19.0 | 17.6 | 74.3 |
| 6 Services | 0.3 | -0.8 | -0.1 | -0.7 | -2.4 |
| 7 Primary income | 8.9 | 35.8 | 9.4 | 7.5 | 33.4 |
| 8 Secondary income | -4.3 | -18.3 | -2.7 | -3.7 | -20.3 |
| Current account (5+6+7+8) | 7.7 | 73.7 | 25.6 | 20.6 | 84.9 |
| Item | April 2020 | January to Arpril 2020 | Percentage change from | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2019 | January to April 2019 | |||
| billion euro | % | |||
| Total exports | 75.7 | 400.7 | -31.1 | -10.1 |
| including: | ||||
| EU | 38.2 | 210.5 | -34.8 | -11.4 |
| Euro-zone | 26.4 | 146.4 | -36.7 | -13.5 |
| Non-euro-zone | 11.8 | 64.1 | -29.9 | -6.1 |
| Third countries | 37.5 | 190.2 | -27.0 | -8.7 |
| including: | ||||
| United Kingdom | 3.2 | 22.9 | -42.1 | -19.5 |
| Total imports | 72.2 | 345.4 | -21.6 | -7.5 |
| including: | ||||
| EU | 35.2 | 180.4 | -30.1 | -10.8 |
| Euro-zone | 24.8 | 124.9 | -28.9 | -11.0 |
| Non-euro-zone | 10.4 | 55.5 | -32.9 | -10.1 |
| Third countries | 37.0 | 165.0 | -11.4 | -3.7 |
| including: | ||||
| United Kingdom | 3.0 | 13.5 | 8.8 | 6.4 |
| 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 J-DEMETRA+ (X-13 ARIMA). | |||||||||
| 2019 | January | 108.8 | 1.6 | 112.1 | 0.3 | 94.3 | 5.3 | 93.3 | 0.9 |
| February | 108.9 | 4.0 | 110.8 | -1.2 | 91.1 | 5.8 | 92.9 | -0.4 | |
| March | 118.2 | 1.8 | 112.3 | 1.4 | 95.9 | 5.3 | 93.0 | 0.0 | |
| April | 110.0 | -0.3 | 109.5 | -2.5 | 92.2 | 2.5 | 92.2 | -0.8 | |
| May | 114.2 | 4.7 | 110.5 | 0.9 | 93.6 | 5.1 | 91.9 | -0.3 | |
| June | 106.1 | -8.0 | 110.6 | 0.1 | 89.5 | -4.1 | 92.4 | 0.6 | |
| July | 115.0 | 3.6 | 110.9 | 0.3 | 93.7 | -1.0 | 91.2 | -1.3 | |
| August | 101.6 | -3.6 | 110.0 | -0.8 | 85.2 | -2.9 | 91.3 | 0.2 | |
| September | 114.1 | 4.6 | 111.6 | 1.5 | 93.0 | 2.2 | 92.4 | 1.2 | |
| October | 119.7 | 2.1 | 112.8 | 1.0 | 98.5 | -0.1 | 92.6 | 0.3 | |
| November | 113.1 | -2.7 | 110.9 | -1.7 | 94.8 | -1.4 | 92.4 | -0.3 | |
| December | 98.1 | 2.4 | 111.0 | 0.2 | 82.9 | 1.4 | 91.9 | -0.5 | |
| 2020 | January | 106.6 | -2.0 | 111.1 | 0.1 | 92.9 | -1.5 | 92.5 | 0.6 |
| February | 109.2 | 0.3 | 112.5 | 1.3 | 88.6 | -2.8 | 91.1 | -1.5 | |
| March | 109.1 | -7.7 | 99.4 | -11.7 | 91.7 | -4.4 | 86.6 | -5.0 | |
| April | 75.7 | -31.1 | 75.5 | -24.0 | 72.2 | -21.6 | 72.3 | -16.5 | |
First detailed provisional results (only in german) by country of origin/country of destination and by chapter of the Commodity Classification for Foreign Trade Statistics as well as a comparative table (only in german) based on the country of origin/country of consignment concepts are available for downloading.
