Drawbacks to a strong dependency

Firstly, national economic policy
has little influence on foreign demand which, secondly,
fluctuates much more strongly than domestic demand.

Greater dependency on exports thus exposes businesses
to greater turnover risks.

That became especially clear during the crisis year of
2009, when foreign demand collapsed and it was left to
the state to prop up the markets. Although exports rose
again strongly in 2010, this was only a correction of the
collapse of 2009.

Since 2011 growth in foreign sales has
declined steadily, above all because of the euro crisis. As
the trend shows, the contribution of the other Eurozone
countries to growth in overall German exports fell in
2012 and 2013. But exports to the rest of the world have
also steadily deteriorated. With the economic future of
the Eurozone still uncertain, demand expectations remain
subject to great uncertainty.