Press release No. 136 of 18 March 2021
WIESBADEN – The year 2020 will always be associated with the wearing of protective face masks in Germany. On account of the coronavirus pandemic, a new product appeared in German trade with foreign countries. According to provisional estimates of the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), Germany imported protective face masks to the value of approximately 6 billion euros in 2020. Almost all of these masks were imported from the People's Republic of China. Masks worth 3.5 billion euros were imported from China in April and May 2020 alone. In June and July, Germany imported masks to the value of another 1.4 billion euros from China. This means that 80% of protective face mask imports of the year 2020 took place in April to July.
