Press Exports in May 2022: -0.5% on April 2022

Exports to Russia increased by 29.4% month on month and dropped by 54.6% year on year, calendar and seasonally adjusted

Press release No. 279 of 4 July 2022

Exports (calendar and seasonally adjusted), May 2022
125.8 billion euros
-0.5% on the previous month
+11.7% on the same month a year earlier

Imports (calendar and seasonally adjusted), May 2022
126.7 billion euros
+2.7% on the previous month
+27.8% on the same month a year earlier

Foreign trade balance (calendar and seasonally adjusted), May 2022:
-1.0 billion euros

WIESBADEN

WIESBADEN – In May 2022, German exports were down by 0.5% and imports up by 2.7% on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis compared with April 2022. Based on provisional data, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that exports increased by 11.7% and imports by 27.8% from May 2021. Exports to the Russian Federation rose by 29.4% to 1.0 billion euros in May 2022 from April 2022 after dropping sharply by nearly 60% in March 2022 from February 2022 and by 9.9% in April 2022 from March 2022. Compared with May 2021, they were by 54.6% lower. Imports from Russia declined by 9.8% to 3.3 billion euros in May 2022 from April 2022.

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After calendar and seasonal adjustment, Germany exported goods to the total value of 125.8 billion euros and imported goods to the value of 126.7 billion euros in May 2022. The foreign trade balance showed a deficit of 1.0 billion euros in May 2022. There had been a calendar and seasonally adjusted surplus of +3.1 billion euros in April 2022 and +13.4 billion euros in May 2021.

Trade with EU countries

On a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis, Germany exported goods to the value of 67.5 billion euros to the Member States of the European Union (EU), while it imported goods to the value of 61.8 billion euros from those countries in May 2022. Compared with April 2022, calendar and seasonally adjusted exports to the EU countries dropped by 2.8% while imports from those countries rose by 2.5%. The value of the goods exported to euro area countries totalled 46.8 billion euros (-2.8%) and the value of the goods imported from there was 42.5 billion euros (+1.6%). Goods to the value of 20.6 billion euros (-2.9%) were exported to EU countries not belonging to the euro area, while the value of the goods imported from those countries was 19.3 billion euros (+4.7%).

Trade with non-EU countries

Exports of goods to countries outside the EU (third countries) amounted to 58.3 billion euros in May 2022 and imports from those countries totalled 65.0 billion euros on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis. Compared with April 2022, exports to third countries increased by 2.3% and imports from those countries by 2.9%.

Most German exports went to the United States in May 2022, 5.7% more than in April 2022, after seasonal and calendar adjustment. Exports to the United States thus rose to 13.4 billion euros. Exports to the People's Republic of China increased by 0.5% to 8.7 billion euros while exports to the United Kingdom decreased by 2.5% to 5.8 billion euros.

Most imports to Germany came from the People's Republic of China in May 2022. Goods to the value of 18.0 billion euros were imported from there, which was a 1.6% decrease compared with the previous month, after calendar and seasonal adjustment. Imports from the United States rose by 9.7% to 7.4 billion euros. Imports from the United Kingdom dropped by 2.0% to 3.4 billion euros in the same period.

Original foreign trade values (not adjusted for calendar or seasonal effects)

Germany exported goods to the value of 130.3 billion euros and imported goods to the value of 129.8 billion euros on a nominal basis (not adjusted for calendar or seasonal effects) in May 2022. Compared with May 2021, exports increased by 19.0% and imports by 33.6%. The unadjusted foreign trade balance showed a surplus of 0.5 billion euros in May 2022. In May 2021 the surplus had been +12.4 billion euros.

On a nominal basis, Germany exported goods to the value of 1.1 billion euros to Russia in May 2022. Consequently, the Russian Federation ranked 25th among the major countries of destination for German exports in May 2022. In May 2021, the Russian Federation had still ranked 14th.

Methodological notes:

The differing comparative periods must be taken into account in all press releases on short-term indicators. Short-term economic monitoring focuses on comparisons with the previous month or previous quarter. These reflect short-term economic trends. A comparison with the previous year is intended to offer a long-term comparison of levels and is not subject to seasonal fluctuations. The results of month-on-month, quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year comparisons may differ considerably at present because of the Covid-19 crisis and the war in Ukraine.

To meet changed user needs, more importance has been attached to calendar and seasonally adjusted results in the press releases on foreign trade statistics since reference month January 2022. Many users intend to use foreign trade statistics for time series comparisons, for instance, to show how exports have developed compared with the previous month or the same month a year earlier. The informational value of such comparisons based on unadjusted values and the seasonal and calendar effects included in them is limited. Calendar and seasonal adjustment is designed to exclude these effects. The X13 JDemetra+ method is used for the calendar and seasonal adjustment of foreign trade data. Related detailed explanations are included in the methodological paper “Saisonbereinigung im Außenhandel“. The fact that adjusted values are always calculated ‘fictitious’ values is important in evaluating calendar and seasonally adjusted values. For this reason, a comparison between adjusted series and nominal series is not useful. The nominal values form the basis for the calculation of calendar and seasonally adjusted results.

More information:

More calendar and seasonally adjusted results of foreign trade statistics are available in the GENESIS-Online database (Tables 51000-0020 and 51000-0021). First detailed provisional results on a nominal basis by country of origin/country of destination and by chapter of the Commodity Classification for Foreign Trade Statistics are available for downloading.

The foreign trade results also form part of the Crisis Monitor (www.destatis.de/krisenmonitor), by means of which the Federal Statistical Office compares the development of major short-term indicators in the Covid-19 crisis and the financial and economic crisis of 2008/2009. They are also available on the “Corona Statistics” webpage (www.destatis.de/corona) and in the Dashboard Germany (www.dashboard-deutschland.de) (only in german), together with other indicators which can be used to assess the economic consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Dashboard Germany portal of the Federal Statistical Office combines up-to-date indicators of official statistics and of other data providers on the topics of economy and finance as well as health and mobility.

Russia’s attack on Ukraine and the related sanctions have an impact on many parts of the economy and society. We have compiled data and information on the subject for you on a special webpage (only in german).

Groups of countries
ItemMay
2022
January
to May 2022
Percentage change from
April
2022
January to May
2021
billion euro%
Total exports125.8616.0-0.511.2
including:
EU Member States67.5333.4-2.811.6
Euro-zone46.8231.0-2.811.8
Non-euro-zone20.6102.4-2.911.1
Third countries58.3282.62.310.8
including:
Russian Federation1.07.629.4-29.8
Total imports126.7593.62.725.6
including:
EU Member States61.8294.22.516.0
Euro-zone42.5204.21.618.5
Non-euro-zone19.390.04.710.7
Third countries65.0299.42.936.6
including:
Russian Federation3.319.2-9.854.5
Foreign trade (special trade)
Exports and imports
Original values/calendar and seasonally adjusted values / original value
YearMonthExportsImports
calendar and seasonally
adjusted value
original valuecalendar and seasonally
adjusted value
original value
value in
billion euros
change on
previous month in %
value in
billion euros
change on the same
month of the
previous year
in %
value in
billion euros
change on
previous month
in %
value in
billion euros
change on the same
month of the
previous year
in %
2021January108.71.098.4-7.788.6-2.084.2-9.4
February109.10.3107.8-1.391.93.789.91.1
March111.52.3127.116.397.15.7106.315.4
April112.00.4111.947.495.9-1.296.633.7
May112.60.6109.535.999.23.497.232.6
June113.50.8118.723.7100.00.9102.727.4
July114.91.3115.112.097.8-2.297.317.0
August113.4-1.3104.514.699.11.393.017.2
September112.7-0.6118.27.5100.01.0102.113.5
October117.24.0121.48.2104.64.6108.817.6
November119.21.8126.012.4108.63.8114.520.2
December120.81.3117.015.6113.24.2110.628.5
2022January118.1-2.3110.212.1108.9-3.8106.326.2
February124.65.5123.314.4115.46.0112.425.1
March121.1-2.8138.08.6119.23.3130.522.7
April126.44.4122.39.3123.43.5121.525.8
May125.8-0.5130.319.0126.72.7129.833.6

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