Germany's trade surplus was valued at 199bn, in 2013 - - a record since the current series of foreign trade statistics began in 1950 - -  in 2012, the surplus of the foreign trade balance had amounted to €189.8bn and the previous record high was  a value of €195.3bn in 2007. The current account including investment flows was valued at €201.0bn another record high. In 2007 the level had been at €181.0bn. Meanwhile, Japan's current account surplus was the smallest in 2013 since comparable data became available in 1985.

According to Trading Economics, from 1980 until 2012, Germany's current account to GDP (gross domestic product) averaged 2.1% reaching an all time high of 7.4% in December of 2007 and a record low of -1.7% in December of 1980.

German imports fell more sharply than exports last year, down 1.2%, compared with a decline in exports of just 0.2%.

Germany exported goods to the value of €1.094tn and imported goods to the value of €895.0bn in 2013. Based on provisional data, Destatis, the federal statistics office, also reported that the foreign trade balance showed a surplus of €198.9bn in 2013. This was the highest value recorded since the beginning of compiling foreign trade statistics. In 2012, the surplus of the foreign trade balance had amounted to €189.8bn.

According to provisional results of the Deutsche Bundesbank, the current account of the balance of payments showed a surplus of €201.0bn in 2013, which included the balance of services (–€0.2bn), factor income net (+€67.5bn), current transfers (–€39.1bn), and supplementary trade items (–€26.1bn). In 2012, the German current account showed a surplus of €187.2bn.

In 2013, Germany dispatched goods to the value of €623.5bn to the member states of the European Union (EU), while it received goods to the value of €577.6bn from those countries. Compared with 2012, dispatches to the EU countries increased by 0.1% and arrivals from those countries by 0.8%. Goods to the value of 401.9bn (–1.2%) were dispatched to the Eurozone countries in 2013, while the value of the goods received from those countries was 401.2bn (–0.2%). In 2013, goods to the value of €221.6bn (+2.6%) were dispatched to EU countries not belonging to the Euro area, while the value of the goods which arrived from those countries was €176.4bn (+3.0%).

The Eurozone imports are exaggerated by transhipments through the Dutch port of Rotterdam that are initially classified as of Dutch origin but are later reclassified as originating in ex-EU 28 countries.

Exports of goods to countries outside the European Union (third countries) amounted to €470.4bn in 2013, while imports from those countries totalled €317.4bn. Compared with 2012, exports to third countries decreased by 0.5% and imports from those countries by 4.6%.

In December 2013, Germany exported goods to the value of €82.2bn (+4.6% on December 2012) and imported goods to the value of €68.0bn (+2.0%). After calendar and seasonal adjustment, exports decreased by 0.9% and imports by 0.6% on November 2013. The foreign trade balance recorded a surplus of €18.5bn in calendar and seasonally adjusted terms in December 2013.

Japan's current account surplus was the smallest in 2013 since comparable data became available in 1985, with the trade deficit ballooning against the backdrop of a surge in fossil fuel imports and the yen's slide, government data showed Monday.

A record goods trade deficit of ¥10.64tn brought the country's annual current account surplus, one of the broadest measures of international trade, to ¥3.31tn last year, the finance ministry said in a preliminary report.

The current account surplus shrank for the third straight year, down 31.5% in 2013 from 2012, when it hit the previous record of ¥4.82tn in the aftermath of the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power complex following the March 2011 quake-tsunami disaster.

Last year imports with higher cost energy as the yen fell, rose 15.4% versus a 9.0% gain in exports, the data showed.

Government debt rose to a record  ¥1,017tn last year, the finance ministry also said on Monday.

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