Press release No. 078 of 10 March 2026
Exports (calendar and seasonally adjusted exports of goods), January 2026
130.5 billion euros
-2.3% on the previous month
+0.6% on the same month a year earlier
Imports (calendar and seasonally adjusted imports of goods), January 2026
109.2 billion euros
-5.9% on the previous month
-4.0% on the same month a year earlier
Foreign trade balance (calendar and seasonally adjusted), January 2026
21.2 billion euros
WIESBADEN – In January 2026, German exports were down 2.3% and imports decreased by 5.9% on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis compared with December 2025. Compared with January 2025, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) further reports that exports increased by 0.6% and imports declined by 4.0%, based on provisional data.
After calendar and seasonal adjustment, Germany exported goods to the value of 130.5 billion euros and imported goods to the value of 109.2 billion euros in January 2026. The foreign trade balance thus showed a surplus of 21.2 billion euros in January 2026. The calendar and seasonally adjusted foreign trade balance stood at +17.4 billion euros in December 2025. In January 2025, the balance was +15.9 billion euros.
Trade with EU countries
On a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis, Germany exported goods to the value of 71.6 billion euros to the Member States of the European Union (EU) in January 2026, while it imported goods to the value of 55.6 billion euros from these countries in the same period. Compared with December 2025, calendar and seasonally adjusted exports to EU countries dropped by 4.8% and imports from these countries fell by 6.5%. The value of the goods exported to euro area countries totalled 50.1 billion euros (-5.7%), and the value of the goods imported from these countries was 37.6 billion euros
(-5.9%). Goods to the value of 21.5 billion euros (-2.7%) were exported to EU countries not belonging to the euro area, while the value of the goods imported from those countries was 18.0 billion euros (-7.8%).
Trade with non-EU countries
Exports of goods to countries outside the EU (third countries) amounted to 58.8 billion euros in January 2026, while imports from those countries totalled 53.6 billion euros, on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis. Compared with December 2025, exports to third countries increased by 1.0% and imports from those countries fell by 5.3%.
Most German exports in January 2026 went to the United States, with goods exports totalling 13.2 billion euros after seasonal and calendar adjustment. This represented an increase of 11.7% on December 2025. Compared with January 2025, exports to the United States were up 0.4% on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis. Month on month, exports to the United Kingdom declined by 2.6% to 6.8 billion euros. In January 2026, exports to the People’s Republic of China decreased by 13.2% to 6.3 billion euros compared with December 2025.
Most imports in January 2026 came from the People's Republic of China. Goods to the value of 14.2 billion euros were imported from there, on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis. This was a decrease of 8.3% compared with the previous month. Imports from the United States decreased by 8.2% to 7.2 billion euros. Imports from the United Kingdom increased by 2.5% to 3.0 billion euros during the same period.
After seasonal and calendar adjustment, exports to the Russian Federation decreased by 8.3% to 0.5 billion euros in January 2026 from December 2025. Compared with January 2025, they were down 15.9%. Imports from Russia declined by 20.0% to 0.1 billion euros in January 2026 compared with December 2025 and were down 19.7% from January 2025.
Original foreign trade values (not adjusted for calendar or seasonal effects)
Germany exported goods to the value of 121.7 billion euros and imported goods to the value of 105.1 billion euros on a nominal basis (not adjusted for calendar or seasonal effects) in January 2026. Compared with January 2025, exports were down 2.7% and imports dropped by 6.4%. The unadjusted foreign trade balance showed a surplus of 16.6 billion euros in January 2026. In January 2025, the surplus was 12.8 billion euros.
Methodological notes:
The differing comparative periods must be taken into account in all press releases on short-term indicators. Short-term economic monitoring focuses on comparisons of seasonally and calendar adjusted figures with those of the previous month or quarter. These reflect short-term economic trends. Year-on-year comparisons of calendar adjusted results enable long-term comparisons of levels and are not influenced by seasonal fluctuations or calendar effects.
Detailed explanations on calendar and seasonal adjustment are included in the "Saisonbereinigung im Außenhandel" methodological paper (only in German). Calendar and seasonally adjusted values are always notional calculated values. For this reason, a comparison between adjusted series and unadjusted (nominal) series would serve little purpose.
The results in this press release are provisional data from monthly foreign trade statistics. As detailed results are not available this early, it is not possible to provide information on the reasons for changes in foreign trade as a whole or in trade with individual countries or groups of countries.
| Item | January 2026 | Percentage change from | |
|---|---|---|---|
| December 2025 | January 2025 | ||
| billion euros | % | ||
| Total exports | 130.5 | -2.3 | 0.6 |
| including: | |||
| EU Member States | 71.6 | -4.8 | 1.9 |
| Euro area | 50.1 | -5.7 | 1.5 |
| Non-euro area | 21.5 | -2.7 | 2.9 |
| Third countries | 58.8 | 1.0 | -1.0 |
| including: | |||
| United States | 13.2 | 11.7 | 0.4 |
| China | 6.3 | -13.2 | -6.1 |
| United Kingdom | 6.8 | -2.6 | 1.7 |
| Russian Federation | 0.5 | -8.3 | -15.9 |
| Total imports | 109.2 | -5.9 | -4.0 |
| including: | |||
| EU Member States | 55.6 | -6.5 | -3.6 |
| Euro area | 37.6 | -5.9 | -2.5 |
| Non-euro area | 18.0 | -7.8 | -5.9 |
| Third countries | 53.6 | -5.3 | -4.4 |
| including: | |||
| United States | 7.2 | -8.2 | -8.7 |
| China | 14.2 | -8.3 | 3.6 |
| United Kingdom | 3.0 | 2.5 | -15.8 |
| Russian Federation | 0.1 | -20.0 | -19.7 |
| Year | Month | Exports | Imports | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| calendar and seasonally adjusted value | original value | calendar and seasonally adjusted value | original value | ||||||
| in billion euros | change on previous month, % | in billion euros | change on the same month of the previous year, % | in billion euros | change on previous month, % | in billion euros | change on the same month of the previous year, % | ||
2025 | January | 129.7 | -0.0 | 125.1 | -1.3 | 113.8 | 3.5 | 112.3 | 7.6 |
| February | 131.2 | 1.1 | 129.9 | -1.7 | 113.7 | -0.1 | 111.0 | 2.5 | |
| March | 133.1 | 1.5 | 140.6 | 4.7 | 113.3 | -0.4 | 117.4 | 4.4 | |
| April | 131.7 | -1.1 | 131.8 | -5.0 | 115.0 | 1.5 | 115.2 | 0.1 | |
| May | 129.9 | -1.4 | 130.4 | 2.9 | 111.2 | -3.3 | 111.9 | 5.7 | |
| June | 130.6 | 0.6 | 129.0 | 0.4 | 114.3 | 2.8 | 112.5 | 5.6 | |
| July | 130.3 | -0.3 | 135.0 | 1.4 | 113.5 | -0.7 | 117.4 | 4.0 | |
| August | 129.4 | -0.7 | 115.4 | -4.1 | 111.9 | -1.4 | 102.3 | 0.5 | |
| September | 131.2 | 1.4 | 137.6 | 5.4 | 115.4 | 3.1 | 119.7 | 7.1 | |
| October | 131.5 | 0.2 | 139.3 | 4.3 | 113.8 | -1.4 | 121.1 | 2.2 | |
| November | 128.5 | -2.2 | 131.1 | -1.4 | 114.6 | 0.7 | 116.5 | 3.9 | |
| December | 133.5 | 3.9 | 118.8 | 6.2 | 116.1 | 1.3 | 104.9 | 8.3 | |
| 2026 | January | 130.5 | -2.3 | 121.7 | -2.7 | 109.2 | -5.9 | 105.1 | -6.4 |
More information:
More calendar and seasonally adjusted results of foreign trade statistics are available in the GENESIS-Online database (Tables 51000-0020 and 51000-0021). First detailed provisional results on a nominal basis by country of origin/country of destination and by chapter of the Commodity Classification for Foreign Trade Statistics are available for download for the last time. As of reference month February 2026, the first monthly results will already be available in GENESIS-Online (Tables 51000-0002, 51000-0004 and 51000-0006) at the time the press release is published. The figures for the current month will only be first provisional results. We will provide the updated nominal values for these tables and the remaining tables at the time when the full detailed results are published.
Full detailed results for reference month January 2026 will be provided in GENESIS-Online (Tables 51000) as of 20 March 2026.
Foreign trade results can also be found on the Economic Dashboard, which is part of Dashboard Germany (www.dashboard-deutschland.de) (only in German). In this data portal, the Federal Statistical Office brings together up-to-date indicators from official statistics producers and other data providers on the topics of the labour market, construction, housing, energy and Ukraine. The portal also contains the Economic Pulse Monitor (Pulsmesser für die Wirtschaft) (only in German) tool for real-time economic monitoring.
