Press release No. 182 of 12 May 2023
- China was Germany’s most important trading partner with a trade volume of 64.7 billion euros, but the difference between China and the USA decreased considerably
- Motor vehicle exports to China down 23.9% from the same quarter a year earlier
- 91.8% of rare-earth metal imports came from China, as did 67.8% of smartphones, 39.2% of lithium-ion rechargeable batteries and 28.2% of electric cars
WIESBADEN – The People's Republic of China was Germany’s most important trading partner again in the 1st quarter of 2023, but the volume of German trade (value of exports and imports) with China decreased by 10.5% to 64.7 billion euros from the same quarter of the previous year. As reported by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), the value of the goods traded with China was only slightly higher than the volume of Germany’s trade with the United States, which totalled 64.1 billion euros in the 1st quarter of 2023. For comparison: In the 1st quarter of 2022, the volume of trade with China had been 72.4 billion euros, while goods to the value of 54.6 billion euros had been traded with the United States.
