Compared to December 2023, German exports increased by 6.3% and imports by 3.6% in January 2024 (calendar and seasonally adjusted). Based on provisional data, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reported that exports increased by 0.3% imports decreased by 8.3% compared to January 2023.

Calendar and seasonally adjusted, the value of goods exported from Germany in January 2024 amounted to €135.6 billion, while the value of goods imported amounted to €108.0 billion. As a result, the January 2024 foreign trade balance shows a surplus of EUR 27.5 billion. The adjusted surplus in December 2023 was €23.3 billion and the adjusted surplus in January 2023 was €17.3 billion.

Trade with EU Countries

On a calendar year and seasonally adjusted basis, in January 2024, Germany exported goods worth €75.8 billion to EU member states, while importing goods worth €61.2 billion from these countries. Compared to December 2023, on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis, exports to EU countries increased by 8.9%, while imports from these countries increased by 10.8%. The value of goods exported to eurozone countries totaled 52.7 billion euros (+7.7%), and the value of goods imported from these countries was 40.4 billion euros (+10.2%). The value of goods exported to non-eurozone EU countries amounted to €23.2 billion (+11.7%), while the value of goods imported from these countries was €20.8 billion (+12.0%).

Trade with Non-EU Countries

On a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis, exports of goods to countries outside the EU (third countries) amounted to €59.7 billion in January 2024, while imports from these countries totaled €46.8 billion. Compared to December 2023, exports to third countries increased by 3.1% and imports from these countries decreased by 4.5%.

In January 2024, the majority of Germany's exports went to the United States, with merchandise exports declining by 1.7% in December 2023 on a seasonally and calendar-adjusted basis. Exports to the United States thus fell to €12.5 billion. In contrast, exports to the People's Republic of China increased by 7.8% to €8.1 billion and exports to the United Kingdom fell by 8.1% to €6.8 billion.

In January 2024, the majority of Germany's imports came from the People's Republic of China. Imports of goods from the People's Republic of China were valued at €10.4 billion, down 11.1% from the previous month on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis. Imports from the United States fell by 5.2% to €7.8 billion. Imports from the UK increased by 18.4% to €3.1 billion over the same period.

Exports to the Russian Federation increased by 1.6% m-o-m in January 2024 compared with December 2023, reaching €700 million on a seasonally adjusted basis. Compared to January 2023, they fell by 34.2%.Imports from the Russian Federation in January 2024 fell by 8.2% compared to December 2023 to €0.2 billion. Compared to January 2023, they were down 82.4%.