Globalisation indicators Foreign trade

In national accounts (comparison of the NA/foreign trade concepts), the export ratio shows the relation between the exports of goods and services and the gross domestic product (GDP). It measures the importance of the exports of goods and services in relation to the whole German economic performance.

As exports also contain imported goods, the export ratio must not be misinterpreted as the share of exports in the GDP. The share of the GDP that is generated by foreign demand is shown by the export dependence rate of the GDP, which is much lower than the export ratio.

Table

In national accounts (comparison of the NA/foreign trade concepts), the import ratio shows the relation between the imports of goods and services and the gross domestic product (GDP). It measures the importance of the imports of goods and services in relation to the whole German economic performance.

Table

In national accounts (comparison of the NA/foreign trade concepts), the balance of exports and imports–to-GDP ratio shows the relation between the balance of exports and imports (difference between exports and imports of goods and services) and the gross domestic product. It corresponds to the share of national savings in GDP (positive sign) or is the relation between national dissaving and GDP (negative sign).

The concept of the national accounts indicator "balance of exports and imports-to-gross domestic product ratio" is comparable with the concept of the foreign trade indicator "foreign trade balance-to-gross domestic product ratio".

Table

In national accounts (comparison of the NA/foreign trade concepts), the balance of exports and imports is the difference between exports and imports of goods and services. It corresponds to the part of the gross domestic product which is not spent on final consumption or on capital formation. The balance of exports and imports corresponds to national saving. If the balance of imports and exports has a negative sign, the domestic uses (final consumption and capital formation) will exceed the gross domestic product. In this case the balance of exports and imports corresponds to national dissaving.

The concept of the national accounts indicator "balance of exports and imports" is comparable with the concept of the foreign trade indicator "foreign trade balance".

Table

In national accounts (comparison of the NA/foreign trade concepts), the normalised balance of exports and imports is measured as the balance of exports and imports (difference between exports and imports of goods and services) related to total trade (sum of exports and imports of goods and services).

The concept of the national accounts indicator "normalised balance of exports and imports" is comparable with the concept of the foreign trade indicator "normalised foreign trade balance".

Table

In national accounts (comparison of the NA/foreign trade concepts), the per capita exports show the ratio between the total exports of goods and services and the population (inhabitants) as a whole.

The concept of the national accounts indicator "per capita exports" is comparable with the concept of the foreign trade indicator "per capita exports".

Table

In national accounts (comparison of the NA/foreign trade concepts), the share of intra-EU trade is the ratio between German exports and imports of goods and services to and from the EU and the total German exports and imports of goods and services. It is an indicator for the importance of Germany’s trade relations with other EU Member States.

Table

In national accounts (comparison of the NA/Foreign trade concepts) the foreign trade-to-GDP ratio is the relation between the sum of imports and exports of goods and services and the gross domestic product. It reflects Germany's integration in world trade.

Table

In national accounts (comparison of the NA/foreign trade concepts), the export dependence rate of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) shows the share of the German GDP induced by foreign demand. The GDP depending on exports contains, on the one hand, the GDP directly generated by domestic production of exported goods and services and, on the other hand, the GDP generated from the domestic production of goods and services for intermediate consumption, i.e. for use within the whole production chain of exports.

Table

In national accounts (comparison of the NA/foreign trade concepts), the export dependence rate of employment measures the impact of exports on domestic employment. It is the ratio between the average number of persons in employment directly and indirectly working for exports in Germany and the average number of all persons whose place of employment is in Germany. Persons in employment who depend on exports work either directly work in the domestic production of the exported goods and services to be exported or in the domestic production of goods and services for intermediate consumption within the whole production chain of exports. Persons working partly for exports and partly for domestic final uses are only partly taken into account.

Table

In national accounts (comparison of the NA/foreign trade concepts), the import dependence rate measures the value added generated in foreign countries by domestic final demand. The domestic final demand – called "domestic uses of Gross Domestic Product (GDP)" in national accounts – consists of final consumption expenditure and gross capital formation. It can also be calculated as the difference between the GDP and the balance of exports and imports (exports minus imports). Foreign value added contained in domestic final demand includes goods and services imported directly for domestic uses (consumption or investment purposes) as well as imports used for intermediate consumption within the domestic production chain of goods and services for domestic final uses. As far as German goods and services were used for intermediate consumption within the production process abroad, German imports will have to be reduced by the incorporated German value added.

Table

In national accounts (comparison of the NA/foreign trade concepts), the import dependence of final consumption expenditure measures the value added generated in foreign countries from domestic household and government final consumption expenditure. Foreign value added contained in domestic final consumption expenditure includes goods and services directly imported for final consumption as well as imports used for intermediate consumption within the production chain of domestic goods and services of domestic final consumption. According to the national concept, direct purchases abroad by residents are included and purchases on the domestic territory by non-residents are excluded. As far as German goods and services were used for intermediate consumption within the production process abroad, German imports will have to be reduced by the incorporated German value added.

Table

In national accounts (comparison of the NA/foreign trade concepts), the import dependence of gross fixed capital formation measures the value added generated in foreign countries related to acquisition less disposals of machinery and equipment, buildings and structures, intellectual property products and cultivated biological resources. Foreign value added contained in domestic gross fixed capital formation includes goods and services imported directly for investment purposes as well as imports used for intermediate consumption within the production chain of domestic goods and services for domestic gross fixed capital formation. As far as German goods and services were used for intermediate consumption within the production process abroad, German imports will have to be reduced by the incorporated German value added.

Table

In national accounts (comparison of the NA/foreign trade concepts), the import dependence of exports measures the value added of German exports of goods and services that had been originally generated in foreign countries. Foreign value added contained in exports includes export goods from foreign origin and exports after inward processing (without the value of the processing fee) as well as imported goods and services used for intermediate consumption within the domestic production chain of exports.

Table

The export propensity according to the foreign trade concept (comparison of the NA/foreign trade concepts) is the ratio of exports to the gross domestic product (GPD) based on the following formula:

Table

The import ratio according to the foreign trade concept (comparison of the NA/foreign trade concepts) is the ratio of imports to the gross domestic product (GDP) based on the following formula:

Table

The foreign trade balance-to-GDP ratio is the ratio of the foreign trade balance (difference between exports and imports) to the gross domestic product (GDP) based on the following formula:

Typically, the term "balance of exports and imports" includes both goods and services. However, the foreign trade balance-to-GDP ratio according to the foreign trade concept shown here covers only goods (comparison of the NA/foreign trade concepts).

Table

The foreign trade balance according to the foreign trade concept (comparison of the NA/foreign trade concepts) is the difference between exports and imports:

Table

The normalised foreign trade balance according to the foreign trade concept (comparison of the NA/foreign trade concepts) is measured as the foreign trade balance (difference between exports and imports) related to total trade (sum of exports and imports):

Table

Export performance according to the foreign trade concept (comparison of the NA/foreign trade concepts) reflects the development of the market shares of German goods abroad by comparing the market shares in a definite period (t) with the market shares in a base year (0). The market shares are obtained as the ratio between the German exports to the 25 major trading partner countries and the total of imports of those 25 countries (source: UN Comtrade). The Federal Statistical Office calculates the German export performance using the following formula:

In addition to the normal export performance the Federal Statistical Office also calculates a variant without energy products, as at least part of the changes in export performance can be attributed to substantially changing energy prices. The reason is that the demand for energy is not very price elastic. An energy price increase leads to an increase in value terms of these goods in total imports of the partner countries, to the disadvantage of other imported goods. As Germany is not a major energy exporter, price increases for energy products lead to a decline in the German export performance.
To calculate the variant without energy products, Chapter 27 of the Harmonized System is excluded for the calculation of the export performance index. Chapter 27 includes the fossil energy sources of coal, oil and gas, their products, and electricity.

Table

The world market share according to the foreign trade concept (comparison of the NA/foreign trade concepts) is the ratio between the exports of a country and the exports of all countries using the following formula:

¹ Source: World Trade Organization (WTO)

Table

Per capita exports according to the foreign trade concept (comparison of the NA/foreign trade concepts) are measured as the share of total exports to the total number of inhabitants according to the following formula:

Table

The importance of Germany's intra-EU trade according to the foreign trade concept (comparison of the NA/foreign trade concepts) is reflected as the ratio between exports and imports to and from the EU and the total foreign trade of Germany:

Table

Enterprises in a specific country which trade with high technology goods are able to put new advanced products on the international market and get high returns on technology due to technological leadership and thus achieve high profit rates. However, in the modern business world the division of labour between organisation and production is increasing. More and more domestic enterprises relocate (part of) their production processes abroad to take advantage of location advantages. This can lead to an increase in trade with high technology goods. However, high technology goods can also be the subject of pure trading activity.

The indicator is calculated according to the foreign trade concept (comparison of the NA/foreign trade concepts) as the ratio of high tech exports or imports to total German exports or imports.

The high tech goods are identified using the high technology classification of the OECD.

Table

The terms of trade indicate whether the increase in prices of total German exports as compared with the base year has been larger or smaller than the increase in prices of German imports. They are calculated as the relation of export price changes to import price changes.

Table

Import penetration according to the foreign trade concept (comparison of the NA/foreign trade concepts) is the ratio of imports to the gross domestic product (GDP) adjusted for the foreign trade balance (difference between exports and imports) according to the following formula:

Import penetration shows the degree to which domestic demand is satisfied by imports.

Table

The foreign trade-to-GDP ratio according to the foreign trade concept (comparison of the NA/foreign trade concepts) is the ratio of the foreign trade value (sum of exports and imports) to the gross domestic product (GDP) based on the following formula:

It reflects a country’s integration in the world economy. The foreign trade-to-GDP ratio is also called trade openness ratio.

Table

The business structure by foreign trade activity represents the share of exporters and importers. It is distinguished between exporters only, importers only and enterprises involved in exports and imports at the same time, i.e. two-way traders.

Table

The business structure by number of partner countries represents the enterprises' level of diversification concerning partner countries.

The high share of the unknown number of partner countries is due to the enterprises involved in intra-Community trade (trade with EU Member States), since their exports to other EU Member States do not exceed the reporting threshold of 500,000 euros. In these cases, there is no information available on the number of partner countries. However, these enterprises have only a small share in the total value of exports.

Table

The business structure by number of partner countries represents the enterprises' level of diversification concerning partner countries.

The high share of the unknown number of partner countries is due to the enterprises involved in intra-Community trade (trade with EU Member States), since their imports from other EU Member States do not exceed the reporting threshold of 500,000 euros. In these cases, there is no information available on the number of partner countries. However, these enterprises have only a small share in the total value of imports.

Table

The export intensity represents the ratio of exports to total sales on the enterprise level. Sales include all supplies and services against payment which are performed in the context of a business activity.

This indicator measures the extent to which enterprises depend on exports.

Table