That dollar amount results from a 13.6% upturn from $1.487 trillion five years earlier during 2019.
Year over year, the overall value of goods exported from Germany slowed to a 1.5% gain compared to $1.658 trillion for 2022.
Based on the average exchange rate for 2023, the euro depreciated by -3.5% against the US dollar since 2019 but appreciated by 2.6% from 2022 to 2023. The weaker European Union currency since 2019 made Germany’s exports paid for in stronger US dollars relatively lesser expensive for international buyers.
Germany’s biggest export products by value in 2023 were cars, medication mixes in dosage, automotive parts or accessories, blood fractions including antisera, then aircraft and spacecraft. In aggregate, those major exports accounted for 22.6% of overall exports sales from Germany. That percentage suggests a relatively diversified range of exported goods.
Germany is a world-leader for exporting cars, drugs and medicines, and automotive parts or accessories. The European nation ranks among the top exporters for international sales of blood fractions including antisera for therapeutic purposes, and aircraft plus spacecraft including aircraft parts.
Germany’s Best International Trade Partners
The latest available country-specific data shows that 66.8% of products exported from Germany was bought by importers in: United States of America (10.1% of the German total), France (7.4%), Netherlands (7.1%), mainland China (6.2%), Poland (5.7%), Italy (5.4%), United Kingdom (5%), Austria (4.9%), Switzerland (4.3%), Belgium (3.9%), Spain (3.4%) and the Czech Republic (3.3%).
From a continental perspective, 66% of Germany’s exports by value was delivered to fellow European countries while 17.3% was sold to Asian importers. Germany shipped another 12.2% worth of goods to North America.
Smaller percentages went to Africa (1.8%), Latin America (1.7%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, then Oceania (0.9%) led by Australia and New Zealand.
Germany’s exports to other members of the European Union equaled 54.3% of Deutschland’s total exports.
Given Germany’s population of 83.9 million people, its total $1.689 trillion in 2023 exports translates to roughly $20,100 for every resident in the European economic hub. That per-capita dollar amount exceeds the average $20,000 one year earlier in 2022.
Germany’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in German global shipments during 2023. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Germany.
- Vehicles: US$293.6 billion (17.4% of total exports)
- Machinery including computers: $272.7 billion (16.1%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: $189.8 billion (11.2%)
- Pharmaceuticals: $119.3 billion (7.1%)
- Optical, technical, medical apparatus: $84.1 billion (5%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: $68.6 billion (4.1%)
- Mineral fuels including oil: $36.5 billion (2.2%)
- Articles of iron or steel: $36.2 billion (2.1%)
- Other chemical goods: $36.2 billion (2.1%)
- Aircraft, spacecraft: $34.2 billion (2%)
Germany’s top 10 exports generated over two-thirds (69.3%) of the overall value of total German shipments.
Aircraft and spacecraft was the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 17.3% from 2022 to 2023.
In second place for improving export sales was the vehicles product grouping, via a 13.8% gain led by trucks, tractors and cars.
Germany’s shipments of machinery including computers posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 7.6% year over year.
The leading decliner among Germany’s top 10 export categories was mineral fuels including oil, pulled down by a -40.9% drop since 2022.
Note that the results listed above are at the categorized two-digit Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) code level. For a more granular view of exported goods at the four-digit HTS code level, see the section Searchable List of Germany’s Most Valuable Export Products further down near the bottom of this article.
Products Generating Best Competitive Advantages
Germany’s overall trade surplus expanded by 159.3% to US$226.6 billion for 2023 from $87.4 billion in black ink one year earlier during 2022.
The following types of German product shipments represent positive net exports or a trade balance surplus for 2023. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. In a nutshell, net exports reflect the amount by which foreign spending on a home country’s goods or services exceeds or lags the home country’s spending on foreign goods or services.
- Vehicles: US$135.6 billion (Up by 12.2% since 2022)
- Machinery including computers: $96.1 billion (Up by 21%)
- Pharmaceuticals: $45.9 billion (Up by 2.8%)
- Optical, technical, medical apparatus: $34.9 billion (Up by 9.4%)
- Aircraft, spacecraft: $21.1 billion (Up by 19.3%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: $19 billion (Up by 2.5%)
- Other chemical goods: $14 billion (Up by 29%)
- Paper, paper items: $7.4 billion (Down by -21.3%)
- Articles of iron or steel: $6.7 billion (Up by 194.6%)
- Tanning, dyes, paints, varnishes, ink: $6.4 billion (Up by 1.3%)
Germany has highly positive net exports in the international trade of cars and automotive parts. In turn, these cashflows indicate Germany’s strong competitive advantages and engineering excellence under the vehicles product category.
Products Causing Worst Competitive Disadvantages
Below are exports from Germany that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Germany’s goods trail German importer spending on foreign products.
- Mineral fuels including oil: -US$96.8 billion (Down by -33.4% since 2022)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$27.9 billion (Up by 13.8%)
- Organic chemicals: -$17.4 billion (Down by -46.4%)
- Ores, slag, ash: -$10.7 billion (Down by -4.3%)
- Fruits, nuts: -$10.2 billion (Up by 5.2%)
- Knit or crochet clothing, accessories: -$7.6 billion (Down by -34.6%)
- Vegetables: -$7 billion (Up by 11.6%)
- Oil seeds: -$6.3 billion (Down by -14.4%)
- Clothing, accessories (not knit or crochet): -$6.1 billion (Down by -31.8%)
- Furniture, bedding, lighting, signs, prefabricated buildings: -$4.1 billion (Down by -31.8%)
Germany has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits particularly for both crude oil and refined petroleum oils.
These cashflow deficiencies clearly indicate Germany’s competitive disadvantages in the international oil market, but also represent key opportunities for Germany to improve its position in the global economy through focused innovations in alternative energy sources.
Germany’s Export Companies
Over fifty German corporations rank among Forbes Global 2000. Below is a selected sample of major German export companies.
- Adidas (apparel/accessories)
- Allianz (diversified insurance)
- BASF (diversified chemicals)
- Bayer (diversified chemicals)
- BMW Group (cars, trucks)
- Continental (automotive parts)
- Daimler (cars, trucks)
- Fresenius (medical equipment, supplies)
- Heidelberg Cement (construction materials)
- Henkel (household/personal care items)
- Linde (diversified chemicals)
- Merck (pharmaceuticals)
- Siemens (conglomerate, engineering)
- Volkswagen Group (cars, trucks)
Searchable List of Germany’s Most Valuable Export Products
The following searchable table displays 100 of the most in-demand goods shipped from Germany during 2023. Shown beside each product label is its total export value then the percentage increase or decrease since 2022.
| Rank | Germany's Export Product | Value (US$) | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cars | $177,179,770,000 | +13.8% |
| 2 | Medication mixes in dosage | $66,779,664,000 | -9.7% |
| 3 | Automobile parts/accessories | $66,323,401,000 | +9.2% |
| 4 | Blood fractions (including antisera) | $45,481,053,000 | +2.2% |
| 5 | Aircraft, spacecraft | $26,516,176,000 | +19.2% |
| 6 | Integrated circuits/microassemblies | $21,849,410,000 | +10.6% |
| 7 | Processed petroleum oils | $19,951,652,000 | -20.5% |
| 8 | Miscellaneous machinery | $18,973,681,000 | +11.8% |
| 9 | Electro-medical equipment (e.g. xrays) | $18,948,906,000 | +7.5% |
| 10 | Centrifuges, filters and purifiers | $17,126,274,000 | +6.2% |
| 11 | Lower-voltage switches, fuses | $16,911,442,000 | +0.68% |
| 12 | Electrical/optical circuit boards, panels | $16,150,561,000 | +21.1% |
| 13 | Taps, valves, similar appliances | $15,200,575,000 | +4% |
| 14 | Computers, optical readers | $14,967,906,000 | -8.9% |
| 15 | Electrical converters/power units | $14,311,660,000 | +15.7% |
| 16 | Transmission shafts, gears, clutches | $13,923,414,000 | +9.8% |
| 17 | Tractors | $13,879,443,000 | +24.8% |
| 18 | Piston engine parts | $13,665,404,000 | +6.9% |
| 19 | Trucks | $12,944,394,000 | +34.5% |
| 20 | Phone devices including smartphones | $12,692,823,000 | +2.7% |
| 21 | Liquid pumps and elevators | $11,874,257,000 | +8.6% |
| 22 | Miscellaneous plastic items | $11,150,107,000 | +2.4% |
| 23 | Air or vacuum pumps | $11,119,391,000 | +7.2% |
| 24 | Insulated wire/cable | $10,183,587,000 | +1.1% |
| 25 | Gold (unwrought) | $10,082,073,000 | +44.1% |
| 26 | Other measuring/testing machines | $9,612,111,000 | +9.5% |
| 27 | Solar power diodes/semi-conductors | $9,518,815,000 | +0.8% |
| 28 | Physical/chemical analysis tools | $9,314,908,000 | +3.4% |
| 29 | Electric motors, generators | $9,294,255,000 | +7.8% |
| 30 | Other diagnostic/lab reagents | $9,281,617,000 | +25.9% |
| 31 | Printing machinery | $8,947,767,000 | +2.4% |
| 32 | Miscellaneous furniture | $8,821,288,000 | -1.8% |
| 33 | Electric storage batteries | $8,800,615,000 | +9.6% |
| 34 | Dishwashing, clean/dry/fill machines | $8,271,963,000 | +8.3% |
| 35 | Iron and steel screws, bolts, nuts, washers | $7,676,893,000 | +6.7% |
| 36 | Aircraft or spacecraft parts | $7,435,283,000 | +9.8% |
| 37 | Trailers | $7,322,072,000 | +3.1% |
| 38 | Turbo-jets | $6,903,741,000 | +23.6% |
| 39 | Plastic plates, sheets, film, tape, strips | $6,899,293,000 | -11.4% |
| 40 | Electric circuit parts, fuses, switches | $6,672,458,000 | +8.3% |
| 41 | Rubber/plastic article making machines | $6,532,983,000 | +11.2% |
| 42 | Cheese, curd | $6,485,309,000 | +4.4% |
| 43 | Electrical energy | $6,465,078,000 | -65.4% |
| 44 | Engines (diesel) | $6,459,054,000 | +9.3% |
| 45 | Chemical industry products/residuals | $6,382,363,000 | -3.2% |
| 46 | Temperature-change machines | $6,380,023,000 | +9.1% |
| 47 | Rubber tires (new) | $6,286,187,000 | +7.1% |
| 48 | Chocolate, other cocoa preparations | $6,254,353,000 | +15.4% |
| 49 | X-ray equipment | $6,135,796,000 | +9% |
| 50 | Miscellaneous iron or steel items | $6,108,546,000 | +4.8% |
| 51 | Lifting/loading machinery | $5,988,725,000 | +16.4% |
| 52 | Orthopedic appliances | $5,977,913,000 | +11.8% |
| 53 | Bread, biscuits, cakes, pastries | $5,734,993,000 | +18.2% |
| 54 | Harvest/threshing machinery | $5,700,650,000 | +15.4% |
| 55 | Machinery parts | $5,633,983,000 | +7.7% |
| 56 | Aluminum plates, sheets, strips | $5,624,065,000 | -14.1% |
| 57 | Initiators/accelerators, catalytic preps | $5,537,883,000 | +6.2% |
| 58 | Liquid/gas checking instruments | $5,472,470,000 | +10.9% |
| 59 | Plastic packing goods, lids, caps | $5,447,851,000 | -4.8% |
| 60 | Piston engines | $5,437,640,000 | +0.7% |
| 61 | Other food preparations | $5,300,193,000 | +9.7% |
| 62 | Miscellaneous iron and steel structures | $5,239,745,000 | +1.9% |
| 63 | Ball, roller bearings | $5,237,573,000 | +1.4% |
| 64 | Electric water heaters, hair dryers | $5,146,938,000 | -7% |
| 65 | Base metal mountings, fittings | $5,100,593,000 | -2.3% |
| 66 | Electrical machinery | $5,018,461,000 | +8.1% |
| 67 | Miscellaneous animal feed preparations | $4,943,627,000 | +8.1% |
| 68 | Polyacetal/ether/carbonates | $4,890,126,000 | -20.2% |
| 69 | Plastic tubes, pipes, fittings | $4,798,237,000 | -1.8% |
| 70 | Footwear (leather) | $4,776,649,000 | +21.8% |
| 71 | Fork-lift trucks | $4,734,081,000 | +20.7% |
| 72 | Beauty/makeup/skin care preparations | $4,667,016,000 | +12.2% |
| 73 | Vulcanized rubber items | $4,638,845,000 | +8.4% |
| 74 | Heavy machinery (bulldozers, excavators, road rollers) | $4,531,887,000 | +18.9% |
| 75 | Special purpose vehicles | $4,507,418,000 | +16.8% |
| 76 | Seats (excluding barber/dentist chairs) | $4,489,547,000 | +4.5% |
| 77 | Regulate/control instruments | $4,482,813,000 | +1.1% |
| 78 | Platinum (unwrought) | $4,415,817,000 | -36.8% |
| 79 | Electrical lighting/signaling equpment, defrosters | $4,400,660,000 | +1.9% |
| 80 | Heterocyclics, nucleic acids | $4,395,666,000 | -13.9% |
| 81 | Iron or steel scrap | $4,236,687,000 | -18.8% |
| 82 | Other organic cleaning preparations | $4,231,437,000 | -3.7% |
| 83 | Flat-rolled iron or non-alloy steel products (plated/coated) | $4,192,881,000 | -7.5% |
| 84 | Petroleum gases | $4,166,862,000 | -62.1% |
| 85 | Swine meat | $4,119,270,000 | +8.1% |
| 86 | Biodiesel | $4,091,077,000 | -20.7% |
| 87 | Interchangeable hand/machine tools | $4,077,741,000 | +3.5% |
| 88 | Lenses, prisms, mirrors | $4,041,785,000 | +19.5% |
| 89 | Plastic plates, sheets, film, tape, strips | $4,017,822,000 | -5.5% |
| 90 | Machinery for making semi-conductors | $3,893,029,000 | +29.7% |
| 91 | Flat-rolled other alloy steel products | $3,842,770,000 | -3% |
| 92 | Precious metal compounds | $3,803,999,000 | -26.4% |
| 93 | Cruise/cargo ships, barges | $3,800,731,000 | -15.8% |
| 94 | Other machine parts, accessories | $3,792,846,000 | +9% |
| 95 | Sutures, special pharmaceutical goods | $3,776,513,000 | +8.1% |
| 96 | Women's clothing (not knit or crochet) | $3,762,866,000 | +6.3% |
| 97 | Spray/dispersing mechanical appliances | $3,755,701,000 | +3.9% |
| 98 | Packaged insecticides/fungicides/herbicides | $3,743,576,000 | -4.7% |
| 99 | Paper containers, cellulose wadding | $3,733,216,000 | -4.3% |
| 100 | TV receiver/transmit/digital cameras | $3,712,488,000 | +16.2% |
These 100 exported goods were worth a subtotal of US$1.082 trillion or well over three-fifths (64.1%) by value for all products exported from Deutschland during 2023.
In macroeconomic terms, Germany’s total exported goods represent 30.5% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2023 ($5.538 trillion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 30.5% for exports to overall GDP per PPP in 2023 compares to 31.2% one year earlier. Those percentages suggest a relatively decreasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Germany’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.
Another key indicator of a country’s economic performance is its unemployment rate. Germany’s unemployment rate averaged 3.264% for 2023, up from an average 3.067% for 2022 according to International Monetary Fund statistics.
Domestically, Germany’s annual inflation rate was 6.324% for 2023 down from an average 8.666% for 2022.
Berlin is the capital city for Germany.
See also Germany’s Top 10 Imports, Germany’s Top Trading Partners, Top German Trade Balances and Germany’s Top 10 Major Export Companies
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Country Profiles. Accessed on March 24, 2024
Forbes, Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on March 24, 2024
International Monetary Fund, Exchange Rates selected indicators (Domestic Currency per U.S. dollar, period average). Accessed on March 24, 2024
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on March 24, 2024
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on March 24, 2024
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on March 24, 2024
Richest Country Reports, Key Statistics Powering Global Wealth. Accessed on March 24, 2024
Wikipedia, Germany. Accessed on March 24, 2024
Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on March 24, 2024
Wikipedia, List of Companies of Germany. Accessed on March 24, 2024
Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on March 24, 2024