The foreign trade balance showed a surplus of € 16.8 billion in February 2013. In February 2012, the surplus had amounted to € 14.9 billion. In calendar and seasonally adjusted terms, the foreign trade balance recorded a surplus of € 17.1 billion in February 2013.
In February 2013, Germany dispatched commodities to the value of € 51.5 billion to the member states of the European Union, while it received commodities to the value of € 46.4 billion from those countries. Compared with February 2012, dispatches to the EU countries decreased by 3.4 percent and arrivals from those countries by 4.5 percent. Commodities to the value of € 33.8 billion (-4.1 percent) were dispatched to the Euro Area countries in February 2013, while the value of the commodities received from those countries was € 32.1 billion (-5.7 percent).
Exports of commodities to countries outside the European Union amounted to € 37.2 billion in February 2013, while imports from those countries totalled € 25.5 billion. Compared with February 2012, exports to countries outside the European Union decreased by 1.9 percent and imports from those countries by 8.3 percent.