Press release No. 187 of 4 May 2022
Exports (calendar and seasonally adjusted), March 2022
120.6 billion euros
-3.3% on the previous month
+8.1% on the same month a year earlier
Imports (calendar and seasonally adjusted), March 2022
117.4 billion euros
+3.4% on the previous month
+20.3% on the same month a year earlier
Foreign trade balance (calendar and seasonally adjusted), March 2022
3.2 billion euros
WIESBADEN – In March 2022, German exports were down by 3.3% and imports were up by 3.4% on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis compared with February 2022. Based on provisional data, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that exports increased by 8.1% and imports by 20.3% from March 2021. Compared with February 2022, exports to the Russian Federation decreased by 62.3% to 0.9 billion euros in March 2022 because of the sanctions imposed as a result of Ukraine's fight against Russia, further measures to restrict exports, and unsanctioned behaviour of market participants. Imports from Russia declined by 2.4% to 3.6 billion euros in the same period.
After calendar and seasonal adjustment, Germany exported goods to the total value of 120.6 billion euros and imported goods to the value of 117.4 billion euros in March 2022. The foreign trade balance showed a surplus of 3.2 billion euros in March 2022. The calendar and seasonally adjusted surplus had been +11.1 billion euros in February 2022 and +14.0 billion euros in March 2021.
Trade with EU countries
On a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis, Germany exported goods to the value of 66.6 billion euros to the Member States of the European Union (EU), while it imported goods to the value of 56.7 billion euros from those countries in March 2022. Compared with February 2022, calendar and seasonally adjusted exports to the EU countries dropped by 1.7% and imports from those countries by 3.0%. Goods to the value of 45.6 billion euros (-2.9%) were exported to the euro area countries, while the value of the goods imported from those countries was 39.2 billion euros (-3.0%). Goods to the value of 21.0 billion euros (+0.9%) were exported to EU countries not belonging to the euro area, while the value of the goods imported from those countries was 17.5 billion euros (-3.0%).
Trade with non-EU countries
Exports of goods to countries outside the EU (third countries) amounted to 54.0 billion euros in March 2022, while imports from those countries totalled 60.7 billion euros on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis. Compared with February 2022, exports to third countries decreased by 5.1%, while imports from those countries increased by 10.1%.
Most German exports went to the United States in March 2022, with goods exports up 3.2% on February 2022 after seasonal and calendar adjustment. As a result, exports to the United States rose to 11.5 billion euros. Exports to the People's Republic of China declined by 4.3% to 9.1 billion euros and exports to the United Kingdom by 3.9% to 5.5 billion euros.
Most imports to Germany came from the People's Republic of China in March 2022. Goods to the value of 16.3 billion euros were imported from there, which was a 15.8% increase compared with the previous month, after calendar and seasonal adjustment. Imports from the United States rose by 6.3% to 6.8 billion euros. Imports from the United Kingdom increased by 40.8% to 3.7 billion euros in the same period.
Unadjusted foreign trade values (not adjusted for calendar or seasonal effects)
Germany exported goods to the value of 137.4 billion euros and imported goods to the value of 127.7 billion euros on a nominal basis (not adjusted for calendar or seasonal effects) in March 2022. Compared with March 2021, exports increased by 8.1% and imports by 20.1%. The unadjusted foreign trade balance showed a surplus of 9.7 billion euros in March 2022. In March 2021, the surplus had been 20.8 billion euros.
On a nominal basis, Germany exported goods to the value of 1.0 billion euros to Russia in March 2022. Consequently, the Russian Federation ranked only 26th among the major countries of destination for German exports in March 2022. Russia came 15th in February 2022.
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 with the previous month or previous quarter. These reflect short-term economic trends. A comparison with the previous year is intended to offer a long-term comparison of levels and is not subject to seasonal fluctuations. The results of month-on-month, quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year comparisons may differ considerably at present because of the Covid-19 crisis and the war in Ukraine.
To meet changed user needs, more importance has been attached to calendar and seasonally adjusted results in the press releases on foreign trade statistics since reference month January 2022. Many users intend to use foreign trade statistics for time series comparisons, for instance, to show how exports have developed compared with the previous month or the same month a year earlier. The informational value of such comparisons based on unadjusted values and the seasonal and calendar effects included in them is limited. Calendar and seasonal adjustment is designed to exclude these effects. The X13 JDemetra+ method is used for the calendar and seasonal adjustment of foreign trade data. Related detailed explanations are included in the methodological paper “Saisonbereinigung im Außenhandel”. The fact that adjusted values are always calculated ‘fictitious’ values is important in evaluating calendar and seasonally adjusted values. For this reason, a comparison between adjusted series and nominal series is not useful. The nominal values form the basis for the calculation of calendar and seasonally adjusted results.
More information:
More calendar and seasonally adjusted results of foreign trade statistics are available in the GENESIS-Online database (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 downloading.
The foreign trade results also form part of the Crisis Monitor (www.destatis.de/krisenmonitor), by means of which the Federal Statistical Office compares the development of major short-term indicators in the Covid-19 crisis and the financial and economic crisis of 2008/2009. They can also be found on the Corona statistics webpage (www.destatis.de/corona) and in the Dashboard Germany (www.dashboard-deutschland.de) (only in german), together with other indicators which can be used to assess the economic consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Dashboard Germany portal of the Federal Statistical Office combines up-to-date indicators of official statistics and indicators of other data providers on the topics of economy and finance as well as health and mobility.
Russia’s attack on Ukraine and the related sanctions have an impact on many parts of the economy and society. We have compiled data and information on the subject for you on a special webpage (only in german).
| Item | March 2022 | January to March 2022 | Percentage change from | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 2022 | January to March 2021 | |||
| billion euro | % | |||
| Total exports | 120.6 | 362.7 | -3.3 | 10.1 |
| including: | ||||
| EU Member States | 66.6 | 195.8 | -1.7 | 10.7 |
| Euro-zone | 45.6 | 135.3 | -2.9 | 10.7 |
| Non-euro-zone | 21.0 | 60.5 | 0.9 | 10.7 |
| Third countries | 54.0 | 166.9 | -5.1 | 9.5 |
| including: | ||||
| Russian Federation | 0.9 | 5.9 | -62.3 | -6.4 |
| Total imports | 117.4 | 339.4 | 3.4 | 22.7 |
| including: | ||||
| EU Member States | 56.7 | 169.7 | -3.0 | 13.1 |
| Euro-zone | 39.2 | 117.5 | -3.0 | 15.7 |
| Non-euro-zone | 17.5 | 52.2 | -3.0 | 7.7 |
| Third countries | 60.7 | 169.7 | 10.1 | 33.9 |
| including: | ||||
| Russian Federation | 3.6 | 11.3 | -2.4 | 54.8 |
| 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 in % | 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 % | ||
| 2021 | January | 108.7 | 1.0 | 98.4 | -7.7 | 88.3 | -2.2 | 84.2 | -9.4 |
| February | 109.0 | 0.3 | 107.8 | -1.3 | 90.8 | 2.8 | 89.9 | 1.1 | |
| March | 111.6 | 2.4 | 127.1 | 16.3 | 97.6 | 7.4 | 106.3 | 15.4 | |
| April | 112.0 | 0.3 | 111.9 | 47.4 | 96.7 | -0.9 | 96.6 | 33.7 | |
| May | 112.6 | 0.6 | 109.5 | 35.9 | 99.6 | 3.1 | 97.2 | 32.6 | |
| June | 113.5 | 0.8 | 118.7 | 23.7 | 100.3 | 0.6 | 102.7 | 27.4 | |
| July | 114.9 | 1.3 | 115.1 | 12.0 | 97.6 | -2.6 | 97.3 | 17.0 | |
| August | 113.4 | -1.3 | 104.5 | 14.6 | 99.1 | 1.5 | 93.0 | 17.2 | |
| September | 112.7 | -0.6 | 118.2 | 7.5 | 100.1 | 0.9 | 102.1 | 13.5 | |
| October | 117.1 | 3.9 | 121.4 | 8.2 | 104.5 | 4.5 | 108.8 | 17.6 | |
| November | 119.2 | 1.8 | 126.0 | 12.4 | 108.5 | 3.8 | 114.5 | 20.2 | |
| December | 120.8 | 1.3 | 117.0 | 15.6 | 113.0 | 4.2 | 110.6 | 28.5 | |
| 2022 | January | 117.4 | -2.8 | 109.6 | 11.4 | 108.4 | -4.1 | 106.3 | 26.1 |
| February | 124.7 | 6.2 | 123.3 | 14.5 | 113.6 | 4.7 | 112.3 | 25.0 | |
| March | 120.6 | -3.3 | 137.4 | 8.1 | 117.4 | 3.4 | 127.7 | 20.1 | |
