Data published by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) showed that in January the volume of exports (taking into account seasonal and calendar adjustments) fell by 2.8% compared to December, while the volume of imports decreased by 4.2%. However, in annual terms, the volume of exports increased by 7.5%, and the volume of imports increased by 22.1%.
Destatis reported that, taking into account seasonal and calendar adjustments, exports of goods amounted to 116.9 billion euros, and imports reached 107.5 billion euros. As a result, the trade surplus rose to 9.4 billion euros from 8.1 billion euros in December.
As for trade with EU countries, the volume of exports of goods amounted to 61.4 billion euros (-9.6% compared to December), while the volume of imports from these countries reached 54.5 billion euros (-6.8% compared to December). Meanwhile, the volume of exports to the eurozone countries fell by 8.8% compared to December, to 42.9 billion euros, and imports of goods from these countries decreased by 7.1%, to 37.7 billion euros.
The data also showed that exports of goods to non-EU countries increased by 6.2% on a monthly basis, to 55.5 billion euros, while imports from these countries fell by 1.3%, to 53.0 billion euros. Exports of goods to the United States increased by 3% on a monthly basis, to 10.9 billion euros, and exports of goods to China amounted to 8.8 billion euros (+13.7% compared to December).