Germany's economy: Exports are falling into the minus

December is the exception

German exports drop in 2024 – dark forecast

Even growth in December does not save the balance. The foreign trade association speaks of a “lost year” for German exports.

Germany's exporter completed the year 2024 despite growth in December with a minus. If “made in Germany” with a total value of 1,559.7 billion euros – and thus 1.0 percent less than a year earlier – were delivered abroad last year.

According to figures from the Federal Statistical Office, imports to Germany dropped even more to Germany with a minus of 2.8 percent within a year to 1,318.5 billion euros.

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In the final quarter of 2024, the export was one of the brakes for the German economy stuck in the recession: the exports of goods “Made in Germany” fell “much lower” than in the previous quarter, as the Wiesbaden statisticians recently found.

In December, however, exports were, according to the current figures of the Federal Office, at EUR 131.7 billion, both higher than in November 2024 (plus 2.9 percent) and above the value of December 2023 (plus 3.4 percent). Imports also attracted 111.1 billion euros in both viewing periods.

The Federal Association of Wholesale, Foreign Trade, Services (BGA) had already spoken of a “lost year” for German foreign trade with a view to 2024 despite such bright spots at the end of the year.

The forecast is also cloudy for the current year: According to the BGA, around 80 percent of exporters expected another amount of quantity and sales in 2025, according to previous information, the association expects a decrease in external sales sales by 2.7 percent.

The IFO Institute, which regularly query the expectations of the export-oriented industries, recently stated that the automotive industry looks particularly dark. In the metal industry, too, expectations have been negative for more than a year.