Press release No. 083 of 3 March 2023
Exports (calendar and seasonally adjusted exports of goods), January 2023
130.6 billion euros
+2.1% on the previous month
+8.6% on the same month a year earlier
Imports (calendar and seasonally adjusted imports of goods), January 2023
113.9 billion euros
-3.4% on the previous month
+5.2% on the same month a year earlier
Foreign trade balance (calendar and seasonally adjusted), January 2023
+16.7 billion euros
WIESBADEN – In January 2023, German exports were up by 2.1% while imports were down by 3.4% on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis compared with December 2022. Based on provisional data, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that exports increased by 8.6% and imports by 5.2% on January 2022.
After calendar and seasonal adjustment, Germany exported goods to the total value of 130.6 billion euros and imported goods to the value of 113.9 billion euros in January 2023. The foreign trade balance showed a surplus of 16.7 billion euros in January 2023. The calendar and seasonally adjusted surplus had been 10.0 billion euros in December 2022 and 12.1 billion euros in January 2022.
Trade with EU countries
On a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis, Germany exported goods to the value of 71.9 billion euros to the Member States of the European Union (EU), while it imported goods to the value of 59.6 billion euros from the same countries in January 2023. Compared with December 2022, calendar and seasonally adjusted exports to EU countries rose by 0.7% and imports from those countries by 0.6%. The value of the goods exported to euro area countries in January 2023 totalled 50.8 billion euros (+0.5%) and the value of the goods imported from there was 40.3 billion euros (-1.0%). In January 2023, goods to the value of 21.1 billion euros (+1.3%) were exported to EU countries not belonging to the euro area, while the value of the goods imported from those countries was 19.4 billion euros (+3.9%), on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis.
Trade with non-EU countries
Exports of goods to countries outside the EU (third countries) amounted to 58.7 billion euros in January 2023, while imports from those countries totalled 54.2 billion euros on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis. Compared with December 2022, exports to third countries increased by 3.8% and imports from those countries decreased by 7.5%.
Most German exports went to the United States in January 2023, with goods exports up 3.1% on December 2022 after seasonal and calendar adjustment. Exports to the United States thus rose to 12.7 billion euros. Exports to the People’s Republic of China increased by 1.4% to 7.7 billion euros and exports to the United Kingdom by 7.8% to 6.1 billion euros.
Most imports to Germany came from the People's Republic of China in January 2023. Goods to the value of 12.7 billion euros were imported from there, which was a 6.0% decrease compared with the previous month, after calendar and seasonal adjustment. Imports from the United States rose by 8.8% to 8.3 billion euros. Imports from the United Kingdom rose by 13.1% to 3.3 billion euros over the same period.
Exports to the Russian Federation increased a calendar and seasonally adjusted 12.3% to 1.0 billion euros in January 2023 compared with December 2022 and dropped 60.0% from January 2022. Imports from Russia fell 36.7% to 1.0 billion euros in January 2023 from December 2022.
Unadjusted foreign trade values (not adjusted for calendar or seasonal effects)
Germany exported goods to the value of 125.2 billion euros and imported goods to the value of 114.4 billion euros on a nominal basis (not adjusted for calendar or seasonal effects) in January 2023. Compared with January 2022, exports increased by 12.2% and imports by 7.7% in January 2023. The unadjusted foreign trade balance showed a surplus of 10.8 billion euros in January 2023. In January 2022, the surplus had been 5.4 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 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.
The results in this press release are provisional data from monthly foreign trade statistics. As detailed results are not available yet at this early point in time, 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.
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. Detailed explanations on calendar and seasonal adjustment are included in the methodological paper “Saisonbereinigung im Außenhandel“ (only in german). 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 and unadjusted (nominal) series is not useful.
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 downloading.
Foreign trade results are available also in the Dashboard Germany (www.dashboard-deutschland.de) (only in german). This data portal of the Federal Statistical Office combines up-to-date indicators from official statistics producers and other data providers on the topics of economy, finance, health and mobility. The portal also contains the Economic Pulse Monitor (Pulsmesser für die Wirtschaft) (only in german) tool, which can be used for real-time monitoring of the economic development.
Russia’s attack on Ukraine and the related sanctions are having an impact on many parts of the economy and society. Relevant data and information are provided on a special webpage (only in german) (www.destatis.de/ukraine).
| Item | January 2023 | Percentage change from | |
|---|---|---|---|
| December 2022 | January 2022 | ||
| billion euro | % | ||
| Total exports | 130.6 | 2.1 | 8.6 |
| including: | |||
| EU Member States | 71.9 | 0.7 | 12.8 |
| Euro-zone | 50.8 | 0.5 | 13.3 |
| Non-euro-zone | 21.1 | 1.3 | 11.8 |
| Third countries | 58.7 | 3.8 | 3.8 |
| including: | |||
| Russian Federation | 1.0 | 12.3 | -60.0 |
| Total imports | 113.9 | -3.4 | 5.2 |
| including: | |||
| EU Member States | 59.6 | 0.6 | 8.6 |
| Euro-zone | 40.3 | -1.0 | 5.1 |
| Non-euro-zone | 19.4 | 3.9 | 16.9 |
| Third countries | 54.2 | -7.5 | 1.7 |
| including: | |||
| Russian Federation | 1.0 | -36.7 | -75.1 |
| 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 % | ||
2022 | January | 120.3 | 0.0 | 111.7 | 12.9 | 108.2 | -5.0 | 106.3 | 26.1 |
| February | 127.0 | 5.6 | 124.5 | 15.4 | 116.3 | 7.5 | 112.4 | 25.1 | |
| March | 123.5 | -2.8 | 139.7 | 9.2 | 119.5 | 2.8 | 130.5 | 22.8 | |
| April | 128.5 | 4.1 | 124.2 | 10.3 | 124.2 | 3.9 | 121.9 | 26.1 | |
| May | 131.4 | 2.2 | 136.0 | 23.3 | 126.6 | 1.9 | 131.1 | 34.9 | |
| June | 133.8 | 1.8 | 136.6 | 14.7 | 127.4 | 0.6 | 128.6 | 25.1 | |
| July | 131.4 | -1.7 | 127.8 | 10.7 | 128.0 | 0.5 | 123.2 | 26.6 | |
| August | 135.2 | 2.9 | 128.8 | 23.2 | 134.4 | 5.0 | 128.8 | 38.1 | |
| September | 134.5 | -0.6 | 142.3 | 20.3 | 131.8 | -1.9 | 134.4 | 31.6 | |
| October | 135.8 | 1.0 | 135.6 | 11.7 | 129.1 | -2.0 | 130.6 | 19.9 | |
| November | 136.5 | 0.5 | 144.2 | 14.4 | 125.0 | -3.2 | 132.3 | 15.4 | |
| December | 127.9 | -6.3 | 124.4 | 6.3 | 117.9 | -5.6 | 114.7 | 3.6 | |
| 2023 | January | 130.6 | 2.1 | 125.2 | 12.2 | 113.9 | -3.4 | 114.4 | 7.7 |
