Germany’s exports unexpectedly declined by 2.5 percent in January due to decreasing external sales to the United States and European Union (EU) countries. The Federal Statistical Office of Germany (Destatis) announced the country’s foreign trade figures for January, revealing that seasonally and calendar-adjusted exports dropped by 2.5 percent from the previous month to 129.2 billion euros. Expectations for January’s export data suggested a 0.5 percent increase compared to the previous month. Exports to EU member countries fell by 4.2 percent in January to 69.8 billion euros, while exports to countries outside the EU, referred to as third countries, decreased by 0.4 percent to 59.4 billion euros.
Trade surplus narrowed in January, as imports increased by 1.2 percent to 113.1 billion euros. Germany’s seasonally and calendar-adjusted foreign trade surplus reached approximately 16 billion euros, down from 20.7 billion euros in December 2024 and 25.3 billion euros in January 2024. Compared to January 2024, exports in the country decreased by 0.1 percent while imports increased by 8.7 percent. Of the 57 billion euros in imports in January, a portion was brought in from the EU. Import from EU countries decreased by 1.1 percent compared to January 2024.
Moreover, Germany’s exports to its main trade partner China decreased by 0.9 percent in January, amounting to 6.7 billion euros, while imports from China fell by 2.8 percent to 12.9 billion euros. During the same period, exports to the United States decreased by 4.2 percent to 13 billion euros, while imports from the US increased by 6.5 percent to 8 billion euros. Notably, exports to another important trade partner of Germany, the UK, surged by approximately 18.8 percent in January to 3.6 billion euros. Additionally, German exports to Turkey in January increased by 7 percent to 2.4 billion euros, while imports from Turkey rose by 9.6 percent to 2.4 billion euros.