German exports, adjusted for work days and seasonal changes, fell 4.3% in the month of December, Destatis the federal statistics office said today. German exports gained 11.4% n 2011 to €1.06trn, crossing the trillion- euro mark for the first time.

Germany exported commodities to the value of  €1.06trn and imported commodities to the value of  €902.0bn in 2011.So German exports increased by 11.4% and imports by 13.2% in 2011 on 2010. In 2011, the value of German exports for the first time exceeded a trillion euros. Imports, too, exceeded by far the previous maximum of €805.8bn (reached in 2008).

The foreign trade balance showed a surplus of  €158.1bn in 2011. In 2010, the surplus amounted to €154.9bn.

According to provisional results of the Deutsche Bundesbank, the current account of the balance of payments showed a surplus of  €135.9bn in 2011, which included the balance of services (– €7.8bn), factor income net (+ €40.9bn), current transfers (– €35.6bn), and supplementary trade items (– €19.7bn). In 2010, the German current account showed a surplus of  €141.5bn.

In 2011, Germany dispatched commodities to the value of  €627.3bn to the member states of the European Union ( EU), while it received commodities to the value of  €572.6bn from those countries. Compared with 2010, shipments to the EU countries increased by 9.9% and arrivals from those countries by 13.8%. Commodities to the value of  €420.9bn (+8.6%) were dispatched to the  Eurozone countries in 2011, while the value of the commodities received from those countries was  €401.5bn (+12.9%). In 2011, commodities to the value of  €206.4bn (+12.6%) were dispatched to EU countries not belonging to the  Eurozone, while the value of the commodities which arrived from those countries was  €171.1bn (+16.1%).

Exports of commodities to countries outside the  European Union (third countries) amounted to €432.8bn in 2011, while imports from those countries totalled  €329.4bn. Compared with 2010, exports to third countries increased by 13.6% and imports from those countries by 12.0%.

In December 2011, Germany exported commodities to the value of €85.1bn (+5.0% on December 2010) and imported commodities to the value of  €72.1bn (+5.4%).

After calendar and seasonal adjustment, exports decreased by 4.3% and imports by 3.9% on November 2011. In calendar and seasonally adjusted terms, the foreign trade balance recorded a surplus of  € 13.9bn in December 2011.

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