In May 2017, German traders exported products worth €110.6 billion and imported products worth €88.6 billion, according to the Statistisches Bundesamt (Federal Statistical Office).
This represents an increase of 14.1% in exports and 16.2% in imports, compared to May 2016. Seasonally adjusted exports were 1.4% higher and imports were 1.2% higher than in April 2017.
Performance Report
The external trade balance closed in May 2017 with a surplus of €22 billion – an increase of €1.3 billion, compared to the previous year. Seasonally adjusted, the external trade-balance surplus in May 2017 was €20.3 billion.
Taking into account the balance of trade in goods, including external trade supplements (+€24.4 billion), services (-€1.5 billion), primary income (-€3.6 billion) and secondary income (-€1.5 billion), the performance balance closed with a surplus of €17.3 billion in May, which means a decline of €0.6 billion year on year.
Cross-Country Differences
In May, products worth €64.2 billion were exported to member states of the European Union, and products worth €57.8 billion were imported from the EU, which means a surplus of 11.8% on exports and 13.2% on imports, compared to May 2016.
To countries of the Eurozone, products worth €40.8 billion (+13.4%) were exported and products worth €39.1 billion (+12.6%) were imported. To countries not belonging to the Eurozone, products worth €23.5 billion (+9.2%) were exported and products worth €18.7 billion (+14.6%) were imported.
Compared to May 2016, exports to countries not belonging to the European Union rose by 17.3%, to €46.4 billion, and imports rose by 22.3%, to €30.8 billion.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Larissa Zimmer. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
