The annual figures for 2023 painted a bleak picture of Germany's foreign trade, with exports down 1.4 per cent and imports declining sharply by 9.7 per cent compared with 2022, after adjustments for calendar and seasonal variations. December 2023 ended with a trade surplus of €22.2 billion, up from November's adjusted surplus of €20.8 billion and significantly higher than December 2022's surplus of €13.7 billion.

Trade within the European Union (EU) also contracted, with exports to EU member states dropping by 5.5 per cent and imports falling by 7.4 per cent from November 2023. The euro area countries alone saw a 6.0 per cent decline in exports and a 7.5 per cent decrease in imports. Non-euro area EU countries experienced a lesser impact, with exports and imports declining by 4.1 per cent and 7.2 per cent, respectively, as per Destatis.

Germany's trade with countries outside the EU (third countries) followed a similar trend, with exports decreasing by 3.5 per cent and imports by 5.9 per cent from the previous month. The US remained the top destination for German exports despite a 5.5 per cent decrease in December 2023, while the most imports came from the People's Republic of China, despite an 8.5 per cent decline.

Notably, trade with Russia showed a mixed picture. Exports to Russia slightly increased by 0.4 per cent from November 2023 but plummeted by 26.7 per cent from December 2022. Imports from Russia, though marginally up by 2.8 per cent from November, were down a staggering 89.0 per cent year-on-year.

On a nominal basis (not adjusted for calendar or seasonal effects), December 2023 saw Germany exporting goods worth €113.1 billion and importing goods worth €96.4 billion, marking a decrease of 10.7 per cent in exports and 16.2 per cent in imports compared with December 2022. This resulted in an unadjusted trade surplus of €16.6 billion for December 2023, an increase from the previous year's surplus of €11.6 billion.

For the entire year of 2023, Germany's foreign trade results further underscored the challenges faced by the economy. The country exported goods worth €1,562 billion and imported goods worth €1,352.6 billion, with exports decreasing by 2 per cent and imports by 10.2 per cent compared with 2022. The pronounced drop in imports relative to exports widened the trade surplus to €209.4 billion in 2023, more than doubling from the previous year's surplus and marking a significant recovery from the lowest surplus recorded since 2000, largely attributed to the sharp rise in energy import prices.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DP)