Press release No. 084 of 6 March 2024
Exports (calendar and seasonally adjusted exports of goods), January 2024
135.6 billion euros
+6.3% on the previous month
+0.3% on the same month a year earlier
Imports (calendar and seasonally adjusted imports of goods), January 2024
108.0 billion euros
+3.6% on the previous month
-8.3% on the same month a year earlier
Foreign trade balance (calendar and seasonally adjusted), January 2024
+27.5 billion euros
WIESBADEN – In January 2024, German exports were up by 6.3% and imports by 3.6% on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis compared with December 2023. Based on provisional data, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that exports increased by 0.3% and imports fell by 8.3% compared with January 2023.
After calendar and seasonal adjustment, Germany exported goods to the value of 135.6 billion euros and imported goods to the value of 108.0 billion euros in January 2024. The foreign trade balance thus showed a surplus of 27.5 billion euros in January 2024. The calendar and seasonally adjusted surplus stood at 23.3 billion euros in December 2023 and 17.3 billion euros in January 2023.
Trade with EU countries
On a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis, Germany exported goods to the value of 75.8 billion euros to the Member States of the European Union (EU) in January 2024, while it imported goods to the value of 61.2 billion euros from these countries. Compared with December 2023, calendar and seasonally adjusted exports to EU countries rose by 8.9% and imports from these countries increased by 10.8%. The value of the goods exported to euro area countries totalled 52.7 billion euros (+7.7%), and the value of the goods imported from these countries was 40.4 billion euros (+10.2%). Goods to the value of 23.2 billion euros (+11.7%) were exported to EU countries not belonging to the euro area, while the value of the goods imported from those countries was 20.8 billion euros (+12.0%).
Trade with non-EU countries
Exports of goods to countries outside the EU (third countries) amounted to 59.7 billion euros in January 2024, while imports from these countries totalled 46.8 billion euros, on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis. Compared with December 2023, exports to third countries increased by 3.1% and imports from those countries decreased by 4.5%.
Most German exports went to the United States in January 2024, with goods exports down 1.7% on December 2023 after seasonal and calendar adjustment. The value of exports to the United States thus dropped to 12.5 billion euros. By contrast, exports to the People's Republic of China increased by 7.8% to 8.1 billion euros, and exports to the United Kingdom fell by 8.1% to 6.8 billion euros.
Most imports to Germany came from the People's Republic of China in January 2024. Goods to the value of 10.4 billion euros were imported from there, which represented a 11.1% decrease compared with the previous month, after calendar and seasonal adjustment. Imports from the United States decreased by 5.2% to 7.8 billion euros. Imports from the United Kingdom increased by 18.4% to 3.1 billion euros during the same period.
Exports to the Russian Federation rose by a calendar and seasonally adjusted 1.6% to 0.7 billion euros in January 2024 compared with December 2023. Compared with January 2023, they were down 34.2%. Imports from Russia fell by 8.2% to 0.2 billion euros in January 2024 from December 2023. Compared with January 2023, they were down 82.4%.
Original foreign trade values (not adjusted for calendar or seasonal effects)
Germany exported goods to the value of 131.0 billion euros and imported goods to the value of 108.5 billion euros on a nominal basis (not adjusted for calendar or seasonal effects) in January 2024. Compared with January 2023, exports were up 1.5% and imports were down 7.5%. The unadjusted foreign trade balance showed a surplus of 22.6 billion euros in January 2024. In January 2023, the surplus was 11.7 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 of calendar adjusted results enable long-term comparisons of levels and are not influenced by seasonal fluctuations or calendar effects. The results of month-on-month, quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year comparisons may differ considerably due to the Covid-19 crisis and the war in Ukraine.
Detailed explanations on calendar and seasonal adjustment are included in the "Saisonbereinigung im Außenhandel" methodological paper (only in German). Calendar and seasonally adjusted values are always notional calculated values. For this reason, a comparison between adjusted series and unadjusted (nominal) series would serve little purpose.
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.
| Item | January 2024 | Percentage change from | |
|---|---|---|---|
| December 2023 | January 2023 | ||
| billion euros | % | ||
| Total exports | 135.6 | 6.3 | 0.3 |
| including: | |||
| EU Member States | 75.8 | 8.9 | 0.5 |
| Euro area | 52.7 | 7.7 | -1.5 |
| Non-euro area | 23.2 | 11.7 | 5.3 |
| Third countries | 59.7 | 3.1 | 0.1 |
| including: | |||
| Russian Federation | 0.7 | 1.6 | -34.2 |
| Total imports | 108.0 | 3.6 | -8.3 |
| including: | |||
| EU Member States | 61.2 | 10.8 | 1.7 |
| Euro area | 40.4 | 10.2 | -0.9 |
| Non-euro area | 20.8 | 12.0 | 7.1 |
| Third countries | 46.8 | -4.5 | -18.7 |
| including: | |||
| Russian Federation | 0.2 | -8.2 | -82.4 |
| 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, % | ||
| 2023 | January | 135.1 | 2.9 | 129.0 | 14.9 | 117.8 | 0.2 | 117.3 | 9.3 |
| February | 139.1 | 2.9 | 135.5 | 7.7 | 122.2 | 3.7 | 117.0 | 3.4 | |
| March | 132.5 | -4.7 | 149.2 | 5.9 | 115.3 | -5.6 | 124.9 | -4.9 | |
| April | 134.0 | 1.1 | 125.3 | 0.1 | 115.2 | -0.1 | 109.9 | -10.6 | |
| May | 133.7 | -0.2 | 134.1 | -1.9 | 116.9 | 1.5 | 118.9 | -10.0 | |
| June | 133.6 | -0.1 | 141.5 | 2.4 | 114.6 | -2.0 | 118.5 | -8.5 | |
| July | 131.6 | -1.5 | 128.1 | -1.1 | 113.3 | -1.1 | 109.1 | -12.1 | |
| August | 131.8 | 0.2 | 125.7 | -3.7 | 113.0 | -0.2 | 108.7 | -16.2 | |
| September | 128.9 | -2.2 | 131.6 | -8.8 | 110.9 | -1.9 | 111.0 | -17.9 | |
| October | 128.7 | -0.2 | 133.2 | -3.2 | 109.8 | -1.0 | 113.9 | -13.5 | |
| November | 133.6 | 3.8 | 141.7 | -3.2 | 111.7 | 1.8 | 118.2 | -11.4 | |
| December | 127.6 | -4.5 | 115.2 | -9.1 | 104.3 | -6.7 | 97.5 | -15.2 | |
| 2024 | January | 135.6 | 6.3 | 131.0 | 1.5 | 108.0 | 3.6 | 108.5 | -7.5 |
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) (only in German) tool for real-time economic monitoring.
