Electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and chemicals propped up exports in 2017
Apart from this analysis of the absolute export volumes in 2017, it is interesting
to see which sectors and countries made above-average contributions to the
rise in German exports.
At the sector level, electrical engineering, mechanical
engineering and the chemical industry made the largest contributions. These
three sectors explain almost 50% of the rise in goods exports (in absolute terms)
in 2017. Their exports increased by 9.4%, almost 8% and 7%, respectively, in
2017. In a country breakdown, exports to China (+13.3%) and the Netherlands
(+9.5%) rose impressively. While US exports expanded at a rate below the
average for aggregate German exports in 2017 (4.4% vs 6.2%), they made a
substantial contribution to German export growth in absolute terms because the
US are such an important destination. Exports to Russia were up by more than
20% in 2017.
German-Russian trade relations improved again in 2017, despite
continued political tensions between the EU and Russia. However, remember
that German exports to Russia had dropped by an aggregate 44% in the four
preceding years due to the growth slowdown in Russia and the EU trade
sanctions.
EU Forecast
euf:ba.18.j:179/nws-01