Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany

Germany Trade Balance March 2020

Germany: Exports plummet in March as Covid-19 wreaks havoc

The German external sector ended the first quarter on a sour note due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. German exports fell 11.8% month-on-month on a seasonally- and calendar-adjusted basis, swinging from February’s revised 1.2% expansion (previously reported: +1.3% month-on-month). Imports, meanwhile, fell 5.1% month-on-month (February: -1.5% mom; previously reported: -1.6% mom). Consequently, the calendar- and seasonally-adjusted trade surplus narrowed to EUR 12.8 billion from EUR 21.4 billion in February.

Compared to the same month a year prior, exports fell 7.9% (February: +0.3% year-on-year) and imports contracted 4.5% (February: -2.8% yoy). On a 12-month rolling basis, exports fell 0.7% (February: +0.2%) while imports contracted 0.6% (February: +0.2%). All told, the 12-month rolling sum of the trade balance narrowed to EUR 222.4 billion from February’s EUR 229.0 billion.

The German external sector ended the first quarter on a sour note due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. German exports fell 11.8% month-on-month on a seasonally- and calendar-adjusted basis, swinging from February’s revised 1.2% expansion (previously reported: +1.3% month-on-month). Imports, meanwhile, fell 5.1% month-on-month (February: -1.5% mom; previously reported: -1.6% mom). Consequently, the calendar- and seasonally-adjusted trade surplus narrowed to EUR 12.8 billion from EUR 21.4 billion in February.

Compared to the same month a year prior, exports fell 7.9% (February: +0.3% year-on-year) and imports contracted 4.5% (February: -2.8% yoy). On a 12-month rolling basis, exports fell 0.7% (February: +0.2%) while imports contracted 0.6% (February: +0.2%). All told, the 12-month rolling sum of the trade balance narrowed to EUR 222.4 billion from February’s EUR 229.0 billion.

Holger Bingmann, president of the Federal Association for Wholesale, Foreign Trade and Services (BGA), commented: “The corona crisis is starting to leave unprecedented traces in foreign trade. We got away with one black eye in the first quarter. […] We will only come out of this crisis together. However, we are watching the drifting apart within the EU with great concern. […] Germany must strengthen and bring the European Community back together. The faster this succeeds, the faster we will be able to get out of this crisis.”

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