According to preliminary results released by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), German exports increased by 1.9% and imports rose by 7.2% in March 2026 compared to March 2025. For March 2026, exports were up 0.5% and imports were up 5.1% compared to February 2026, based on seasonally and cyclically adjusted data.
In March 2026, the value of goods exported from Germany reached 135.8 billion euros, while imports totaled 121.5 billion euros. This resulted in a favorable trade balance of 14.3 billion euros for the month. This figure represents a decrease compared to the 19.6 billion euro surplus recorded in February 2026, and a decrease from the 19.9 billion euro surplus observed in March 2025.
Looking at the European Union (EU), exports to member states were valued at 78.4 billion euros, with imports from these states amounting to 61.0 billion euros. Relative to February 2026, these exports saw a 3.4% rise, and imports rose by 3.0%. Within the Eurozone, 54.8 billion euros of goods were exported (+4.1%), and 40.8 billion euros were imported (+1.7%). Separately, exports to non-Euro EU states were 23.6 billion euros (+1.7%), while imports from these states increased by 5.7% to 20.1 billion euros.
For goods traded with countries outside the EU (third countries), exports totaled 57.4 billion euros, and imports reached 60.5 billion euros. Compared to February 2026, exports to third countries declined by 3.3%, but imports increased significantly by 7.4%.
Germany’s largest export market in March 2026 remained the United States. Exports to the US totaled 11.2 billion euros, which was 7.9% less than the previous month in February 2026. Furthermore, these exports were 21.4% lower compared to March 2025. The decline in US exports, however, is less severe than the drop seen in June 2020 (a 27.4% decrease compared to June 2019). Meanwhile, exports to the United Kingdom rose by 3.2% compared to February, reaching 7.4 billion euros. Exports to the People’s Republic of China fell by 1.8% between February and March 2026, reaching 6.0 billion euros.
Regarding imports, the People’s Republic of China was the primary source of goods, with 15.6 billion euros introduced into Germany-a 4.9% increase from February. Imports from the United States decreased by 3.7%, totaling 8.0 billion euros. In contrast, imports from the United Kingdom increased substantially by 11.7%, reaching 3.5 billion euros in the same period.
In unadjusted (nominal) terms, Germany exported goods worth 150.3 billion euros and imported 130.4 billion euros in March 2026. These figures represented a 6.9% increase in exports and an 11.1% increase in imports compared to the previous year, resulting in an unadjusted trade surplus of 19.8 billion euros. This was slightly lower than the 23.2 billion euro surplus recorded in March 2025.