According to the Federal Statistical Office, German exports to member states of the EU increased by 11.1% as compared to 2006 (to 627.5 billion Euros) in 2007 which is much more than the growth in exports to third countries (+4.1% to 341.5 billion Euros). In total German exports increased by 8.5% to 969.0 billion Euros as compared to 2006.
Particularly strong was the increase in exports to the EU member states France (+10.4% to 93.9 billion Euros) and the Netherlands (+10.3% to 62.4 billion Euros) as well as to Russia (+20.6% to 28.2 billion Euros).
Total imports grew (by 5.2% to 772.5 billion Euros) much less in the year 2007 as compared to 2006 than total exports (+8.5%) so that the trade surplus further increased (to 196.5 billion Euros as compared to 159.0 billion in the year 2006).
In particular China (+9.4% to 54.6 billion Euros) and the EU member states (+8.5% to 459.9 billion Euros) increased their imports significantly in comparison to the previous year. In the USA (-7.3% to 45.6 billion Euros) and Russia (-4.2% to 28.8 billion Euros), on the other hand, imports decreased relatively significantly. 