German exports rise slightly in April – USA remains most important sales market

At the same time, however, trade with the United States recorded a significant decline on an annual basis: compared with April 2025, however, there was a minus of 12.9 percent. In the previous month, the export statistics had been negatively affected by a sharp decline in deliveries to the USA. In April, there was now an increase again – of 1.8 percent.

USA remain most important trading partner

The European single market remained an important mainstay: well over half of German exports go to other EU member states. Exports to the member states of the European Union (EU) rose by 1 percent compared with March, to 79.1 billion euros. Here, there was an increase of 1.0 percent in April compared with February.

Imports from the USA also developed dynamically: US imports rose by 7.6 percent. On the import side, the growth of imports from China slowed significantly. The country, however, remained ahead of China in the ranking of countries receiving German products.

Great Britain falls back significantly

Exports to Great Britain fell sharply, by 9.5 percent. As a result, the British economy dropped behind China, even though it had previously been ranked ahead of the People's Republic of China in the list of most important buyer countries. According to these figures, Great Britain continues to rank ahead of China as a buyer country, but with a clear gap behind the USA and the EU.

Economic forecast subdued

Despite the slight recovery in April, the economic situation in Germany remains tense. Most recently, for example, the Council of Economic Experts lowered its economic forecast for Germany. It now expects only modest growth of 0.5 percent. The consequences of the Iran war, with high energy prices, are slowing the recovery of the German economy. The increased oil prices are making the transport of goods more expensive for companies.

Destatis pointed out that the published figures are preliminary and will be supplemented later by more detailed results. The monthly foreign trade statistics are considered an important indicator of the economic development of the German economy, as a significant share of value creation is generated in the export sector.