German exports recorded their sharpest decline in more than a year and a half in January due to falling demand from China and Europe, federal statisticsoffice data showed today.
Exports shrank by 2.3% in January compared with the previous month to €130.5 billion, their biggest fall since May 2024.
Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a 2% decrease.
Imports fell even more sharply than exports in January, plunging 5.9% to €109.2 billion, marking their largest decline since April 2020.
Analysts had predicted slight growth of 0.2%.
The majority of January exports once again headed to the US, where goods worth €13.2 billion were delivered.
That was 11.7% more than in December, even as the high tariffs introduced by President Donald Trump weighed on demand for German-made goods.
"US tariffs are still weighing on exports and will probably only show their full impact this year, not withstanding the new uncertainty since the Supreme Court's ruling," ING economist Carsten Brzeski said.
With the additional shock from weaker China demand and increased competition, as well as surging energy prices as a result of the Iran war, Germany faces an array of headwinds, he said.
Today's figures showed that German trade with China slumped as exports fell by 13.2% to €6.3 billion.
Exports to European Union countries also fell by 4.8% to €71.6 billion.
