Germany's trade surplus increased compared to April 2020

According to the provisional data from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), in April 2021, German exports were up 0.3%, while imports were down 1.7% on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis compared with March 2021. Destatis also reports that, after calendar and seasonal adjustment, exports were 0.5% lower and imports 5.5% higher than in February 2020, the month before restrictions were imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic in Germany.

Germany exported goods to the value of 111.8 billion euros and imported goods to the value of 96.3 billion euros in April 2021. Compared with April 2020, exports increased by 47.7%, and imports by 33.2% in April 2021. This rise is also due to the very low level of foreign trade in the comparison month (base effect).

The foreign trade balance showed a surplus of 15.5 billion euros in April 2021. In April 2020, the surplus amounted to 3.4 billion euros. The calendar and seasonally adjusted surplus of April 2021 was 15.9 billion euros.

The German current account of the balance of payments showed a surplus of 21.3 billion euros in April 2021, which takes into account the balances of trade in goods (+16.7 billion euros), services (+2.1 billion euros), primary income (+6.5 billion euros) and secondary income (-3.9 billion euros). In April 2020, the German current account showed a surplus of 10.0 billion euros.