Press release No. 261 of 4 July 2023
Exports (calendar and seasonally adjusted exports of goods), May 2023
130.5 billion euros
-0.1% on the previous month
-0.7% on the same month a year earlier
Imports (calendar and seasonally adjusted imports of goods), May 2023
116.1 billion euros
+1.7% on the previous month
-8.6% on the same month a year earlier
Foreign trade balance (calendar and seasonally adjusted), May 2023
+14.4 billion euros
WIESBADEN – In May 2023, German exports were down 0.1% and imports were up 1.7% on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis compared with April 2023. Based on provisional data, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that exports decreased by 0.7% and imports fell by 8.6% compared with May 2022.
After calendar and seasonal adjustment, Germany exported goods to the total value of 130.5 billion euros and imported goods to the value of 116.1 billion euros in May 2023. The foreign trade balance showed a surplus of 14.4 billion euros in May 2023. The calendar and seasonally adjusted surplus stood at +16.5 billion euros in April 2023 and +4.4 billion euros in May 2022.
Trade with EU countries
On a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis, Germany exported goods to the value of 70.3 billion euros to the Member States of the European Union (EU) in May 2023, while it imported goods to the value of 61.6 billion euros from these countries. Compared with April 2023, calendar and seasonally adjusted exports to the EU countries dropped by 1.5%, while imports from these countries increased by 3.5%. The value of the goods exported to euro area countries totalled 49.2 billion euros (-1.6%) in May 2023, and the value of the goods imported from these countries was 41.0 billion euros (+4.5%). In May 2023, goods to the value of 21.2 billion euros (-1.3%) were exported to EU countries not belonging to the euro area, while the value of the goods imported from these countries was 20.5 billion euros (+1.5%), on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis.
Trade with non-EU countries
Exports of goods to countries outside the EU (third countries) amounted to 60.2 billion euros in May 2023, while imports from these countries totalled 54.5 billion euros, on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis. Compared with April 2023, exports to third countries increased by 1.5% and imports from those countries decreased by 0.3%.
Most German exports in May 2023 went to the United States. After seasonal and calendar adjustment, exports of goods to the United States were down 3.6% compared with April 2023, with the value of exports to the United States falling to 12.7 billion euros. Exports to the People's Republic of China increased by 1.6% to 8.6 billion euros and exports to the United Kingdom by 5.8% to 6.4 billion euros.
Most imports in May 2023 came from the People's Republic of China. Goods to the value of 13.3 billion euros were imported from there, which represented a 2.7% increase compared with the previous month, after calendar and seasonal adjustment. Imports from the United States were down 5.7% to 7.6 billion euros. Imports from the United Kingdom increased by 15.3% to 3.3 billion euros during the same period.
Exports to the Russian Federation declined a calendar and seasonally adjusted 7.4% to 0.7 billion euros in May 2023 compared with April 2023. Compared with May 2022, when exports to Russia decreased dramatically as a result of the Russian attack on Ukraine, exports were down 34.4%. Imports from Russia fell by 17.3% to 0.3 billion euros in May 2023 from April 2023, and were down 92.6% compared with May 2022.
Original foreign trade values (not adjusted for calendar or seasonal effects)
Germany exported goods to the value of 130.6 billion euros and imported goods to the value of 117.2 billion euros on a nominal basis (not adjusted for calendar or seasonal effects) in May 2023. Compared with May 2022, exports in May 2023 therefore decreased by 4.0%, and imports fell by 10.6%. The unadjusted foreign trade balance showed a surplus of 13.4 billion euros in May 2023. In May 2022, the surplus was 4.9 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 quarter. These reflect short-term economic trends. Year-on-year comparisons enable longer-term comparisons of levels and are not influenced by 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 this early, 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 changes in 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 wish 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. Such comparisons are of limited informational value if they are based on original values and the seasonal and calendar effects these values entail. Calendar and seasonal adjustment removes these effects. Detailed explanations on calendar and seasonal adjustment are included in the “Saisonbereinigung im Außenhandel“ methodological paper (only in German). When evaluating calendar and seasonally adjusted values, it is important to remember that adjusted values are always notional calculated values. For this reason, a comparison between adjusted series and unadjusted (nominal) series would serve little purpose.
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 download.
Foreign trade results are also available on Dashboard Germany at 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 the economy, finance, health and mobility. The portal also contains the Economic Pulse Monitor (Pulsmesser für die Wirtschaft) tool for real-time economic monitoring (only in German).
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 at www.destatis.de/ukraine (only in German).
| Item | May 2023 | January to May 2023 | Percentage change from | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2023 | January to May 2022 | |||
| billion euros | % | |||
| Total exports | 130.5 | 659.3 | -0.1 | 4.5 |
| including: | ||||
| EU Member States | 70.3 | 356.4 | -1.5 | 3.6 |
| Euro area | 49.2 | 250.7 | -1.6 | 3.9 |
| Non-euro area | 21.2 | 105.7 | -1.3 | 2.9 |
| Third countries | 60.2 | 302.9 | 1.5 | 5.7 |
| including: | ||||
| Russian Federation | 0.7 | 4.3 | -7.4 | -42.9 |
| Total imports | 116.1 | 582.5 | 1.7 | -2.7 |
| including: | ||||
| EU Member States | 61.6 | 302.2 | 3.5 | 2.3 |
| Euro area | 41.0 | 201.6 | 4.5 | -2.0 |
| Non-euro area | 20.5 | 100.6 | 1.5 | 12.0 |
| Third countries | 54.5 | 280.3 | -0.3 | -7.5 |
| including: | ||||
| Russian Federation | 0.3 | 2.2 | -17.3 | -88.4 |
| 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, % | value in billion euros | change on the same month of the previous year, % | value in billion euros | change on previous month, % | value in billion euros | change on the same month of the previous year, % | ||
2022 | January | 120.3 | 0.0 | 111.7 | 12.9 | 109.1 | -3.7 | 106.3 | 26.1 |
| February | 127.0 | 5.6 | 124.5 | 15.4 | 116.2 | 6.4 | 112.4 | 25.1 | |
| March | 123.5 | -2.8 | 139.7 | 9.2 | 120.7 | 3.9 | 130.5 | 22.8 | |
| April | 128.5 | 4.1 | 124.2 | 10.3 | 125.5 | 4.0 | 121.9 | 26.1 | |
| May | 131.4 | 2.2 | 136.0 | 23.3 | 127.0 | 1.2 | 131.1 | 34.9 | |
| June | 133.8 | 1.8 | 136.6 | 14.7 | 127.4 | 0.3 | 128.6 | 25.1 | |
| July | 131.7 | -1.6 | 128.1 | 10.9 | 127.5 | 0.1 | 123.2 | 26.6 | |
| August | 135.8 | 3.2 | 129.3 | 23.7 | 133.8 | 5.0 | 128.9 | 38.1 | |
| September | 134.5 | -1.0 | 142.3 | 20.3 | 130.2 | -2.7 | 134.4 | 31.7 | |
| October | 135.8 | 1.0 | 135.6 | 11.7 | 128.4 | -1.4 | 130.7 | 20.0 | |
| November | 136.4 | 0.4 | 144.1 | 14.4 | 125.0 | -2.6 | 132.4 | 15.5 | |
| December | 128.2 | -6.0 | 124.7 | 6.6 | 116.5 | -6.8 | 114.0 | 2.9 | |
| 2023 | January | 131.7 | 2.8 | 126.3 | 13.1 | 116.8 | 0.3 | 116.3 | 9.4 |
| February | 137.1 | 4.1 | 132.7 | 6.6 | 121.1 | 3.7 | 116.0 | 3.1 | |
| March | 129.3 | -5.6 | 146.3 | 4.7 | 114.3 | -5.6 | 123.5 | -5.4 | |
| April | 130.7 | 1.0 | 122.2 | -1.7 | 114.2 | -0.1 | 108.2 | -11.2 | |
| May | 130.5 | -0.1 | 130.6 | -4.0 | 116.1 | 1.7 | 117.2 | -10.6 | |
