In April 2024, the German electrical and digital industry recorded an increase in exports of 7.0% to €20.3 billion compared to the previous year. This is according to figures from the German Association of the Electrical and Digital Industry, ZVEI e.V. from Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
"After several declines since the second half of 2023, the industry's exports have recently been able to increase again," says ZVEI Chief Economist Dr Andreas Gontermann. "Deliveries abroad are also likely to have benefited from three additional working days compared to April 2023."
In the first four months of this year as a whole, the cumulative value of the industry's exports totalled €83.4 billion, which, at minus 1.7%, is still just below the previous year's level.
Imports of electrical and electronic equipment to Germany in April were unchanged year-on-year at €20.5 billion. From January to April 2024 inclusive, they totalled €83.9 billion, a decrease of 7.4%.
"The bottom line is that the foreign trade balance for electrical and electronic products has been almost balanced so far this year," says Gontermann.
Industry exports to the eurozone fell by 3.2% year-on-year to €6.4 billion in April 2024. Europe however, saw a slight increase of 0.6% to €12.1 billion.
Exports to the United Kingdom were particularly strong, rising by 17.3% to €788 million in April 2024. There were also positive developments in deliveries to Hungary (plus 11.2% to €681 million), Switzerland (plus 5.8% to €640 million) and Turkey (plus 1.6% to €306 million).
Exports fell to the Czech Republic (minus 0.2% to €806 million), Spain (minus 0.4% to €682 million), France (minus 1.8% to €1.2 billion), Italy (minus 3.5% to €863 million) and Poland (minus 3.6% to €894 million). In April, exports to Austria (minus 10.0% to €805 million) and the Netherlands (minus 10.6% to €1.2 billion) both recorded significant falls.
For the first four months of the year in total, industrial deliveries to Europe fell by 4.4% to €52.0 billion. Over the same period, exports to the euro area fell by 5.5% to €27.8 billion.
From January to April, exports of electrical and electronic equipment to non-European countries totalled € 31.4 billion, 2.9% up on the previous year.
Caption: In April 2024, the German electrical and digital industry delivered goods worth €8.2 billion to countries outside Europe - a significant increase of 18.2%compared to the previous year. (Image source: Siemens)
