German exports jump 5.9% YoY in Dec 2022: Destatis

In 2022, the calendar and seasonally adjusted export surplus thus declined for the fifth consecutive year. After calendar and seasonal adjustment, Germany exported goods to the value of €127.4 billion and imported goods to the value of €117.4 billion in December 2022. The foreign trade balance thus showed a surplus of €10.0 billion in December 2022. The calendar and seasonally adjusted surplus had been €10.9 billion in November 2022 and €6.3 billion in December 2021, according to a press release by Destatis.

On a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis, Germany exported goods to the value of €70.9 billion to the member states of the European Union (EU), while it imported goods to the value of €58.7 billion from those countries in December 2022. Compared with November 2022, calendar and seasonally adjusted exports to the EU countries dropped by 4.0 per cent and imports from those countries by 4.8 per cent. The value of the goods exported to euro area countries totalled €49.8 billion (-3.2 per cent) and the value of the goods imported from there was €39.9 billion (-4.9 per cent). Goods to the value of €21.1 billion (-5.7 per cent) were exported to EU countries not belonging to the euro area, while the value of the goods imported from those countries was €18.8 billion (-4.5 per cent).

Exports of goods to countries outside the EU (third countries) amounted to €56.5 billion in December 2022, while imports from those countries totalled €58.8 billion on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis. Compared with November 2022, exports to third countries declined by 9.1 per cent and imports from those countries by 7.4 per cent.

Most German exports went to the United States in December 2022, with goods exports down 10.0 per cent on November 2022 after seasonal and calendar adjustment. Exports to the United States thus dropped to €12.3 billion. Exports to China decreased by 14.2 per cent to €7.6 billion and exports to the United Kingdom fell by 24.3 per cent to €5.6 billion.

Most imports came from China in December 2022. Goods to the value of €13.5 billion were imported from there, which was a 14.0 per cent decrease compared with the previous month, after calendar and seasonal adjustment. Imports from the United States were down 7.3 per cent to €7.7 billion. Imports from the United Kingdom dropped by 6.6 per cent to €2.9 billion in the same period.

Exports to Russia declined a calendar and seasonally adjusted 16.7 per cent to €0.9 billion in December 2022 compared with November 2022 and dropped 59.8 per cent from December 2021. Imports from Russia rose by 0.1 per cent to €1.6 billion in December 2022 from November 2022.

Germany exported goods to the value of €123.9 billion and imported goods to the value of €114.2 billion on a nominal basis (not adjusted for calendar or seasonal effects) in December 2022. Compared with December 2021, exports increased by 5.9 per cent and imports by 3.2 per cent. The unadjusted foreign trade balance showed a surplus of €9.7 billion in December 2022. In December 2021, the surplus had been €6.3 billion.

Germany exported goods to the value of €1,574.0 billion and imported goods to the value of €1,494.4 billion in 2022. Exports increased by 14.1 per cent and imports by 24.1 per cent compared with 2021. The foreign trade balance showed a surplus of €79.7 billion in 2022. That was the lowest surplus of the balance of exports and imports since 2000. In 2021, the surplus was €175.3 billion. This means that the export surplus in 2022 was down by more than half from the previous year.

ALCHEMPro News Desk (NB)