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Bremerhaven container terminal
Photo: Mohssen Assanimoghaddam / DPA
German exports also fell in 2023 due to an unexpectedly weak annual result. They fell by 1.4 percent compared to the previous year to 1,562.1 billion euros, as the Federal Statistical Office announced on Monday. Imports fell even more sharply: they fell by 9.7 percent to 1,352.5 billion euros. This results in an export surplus of almost 210 billion euros.
Recently things have gone downhill surprisingly sharply: in December, goods exports fell by 4.6 percent compared to the previous month to 125.3 billion euros - the biggest decline in a year. Economists surveyed had only expected a decline of 2.0 percent, after a strong increase of 3.5 percent in November. Imports even fell by 6.7 percent to 103.1 billion euros in December, which is also the biggest decline in a year.
Exports mainly to the USA
Exports to the member states of the European Union (EU) fell by 5.5 percent to 67.5 billion euros in December. At the end of the year, most German exports again went to the United States, even if they fell by 5.5 percent to 12.7 billion euros. Business in China even shrank by 7.9 percent to 7.5 billion euros, and exports to the United Kingdom fell by 4.3 percent to 7.4 billion euros.
The new year started off as anything but promising for the German export industry: its expectations for business in the coming months fell again in January. The corresponding barometer fell to minus 8.4 points, the lowest level since September 2023.
"The German export industry is starting the new year worse," said the head of the Ifo surveys, Klaus Wohlrabe. “The exporters need new impulses.” The weakening global economy is causing them problems.
Many central banks have raised their key interest rates sharply in the fight against high inflation, which makes loans for investments in German export hits such as machinery, systems or vehicles significantly more expensive and thus dampens demand.
kig/Reuters