Germany witnessed a substantial decline in exports to its crucial global trade partners, notably the United States and China, at the close of the previous year, as per data released by the

statistics office on Monday.

In December, exports to countries beyond the European Union recorded a 4.0% decrease compared to November, on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis, amounting to 57.2 billion euros ($62.27 billion), the office reported.

In comparison to December 2022, there was an even more pronounced downturn in exports to non-EU countries, with a decline of 9.2%, it added.

Despite the United States maintaining its status as Germany's foremost trading partner, exports to the U.S. experienced a significant year-on-year drop of 9.9% in December, amounting to 11.2 billion euros, as per the office.

Similarly, exports to China registered a notable decrease of 12.7%, totaling 7.2 billion euros, according to the office. In contrast, exports to Britain saw a positive trend, rising by 19.7% year-on-year to 6.0 billion euros, the office reported.

Trade with non-EU countries constitutes just under half of all German exports. However, the office noted that it does not consistently mirror the trajectory of trade with EU countries, making it challenging to predict the overall development of foreign trade in December based solely on this preliminary indicator.

While German exports exceeded expectations in November, the IfW economic institute has forecasted a 1.4% decline in total German exports for the past year, projecting a stagnation in 2024. Photo by Hannes Grobe (talk), Wikimedia commons.