Germany's Trade Balance and Trade Composition, 2008-2013

Germany is an industrial giant, when it comes to engineering and manufacturing technologies. Known for producing high-quality products, Germany is one of the world’s leading sources of luxury automobiles, high-end appliances, power tools, and industrial equipment.  However, the global economic recession of 2008-2009 was sure to have impacted the German economy.  Since then, how has Germany recovered, and what are Germany’s top exports?    

Figure 1: Germany Trade Balance in millions of dollars, 2008-2013.  Note: Data were adapted from SAS Visual Analytics for UN Comtrade (2015). UN Comtrade Data. http://www.sas.com/software/visual-analytics/demos/un-comtrade-basic.html

Using the SAS Visual Analytics for UN Comtrade (2015) data interface, it is clear that Germany has been a net exporter in recent years. By plotting the German trade balances from 2008-2013, the effects of the 2008-2009 recession can be visualized.  Figure 1 shows the German trade balances from 2008-2013.  From 2008-2009, the German trade balance declined by $73 billion dollars, from $262 billion to $189 billion (Figure 1).  Since then, the trade balances have been increasing annually, to $264 billion in 2013. Despite the global recession, the German economy has remained a strong net exporter of commodities.
 

Figure 2:  Screenshot of SAS Visual Analytics for UN Comtrade Data interface, showing the top 20 exported commodities of Germany from 2008-2013.  Retrieved from: SAS Visual Analytics for UN Comtrade (2015). UN Comtrade Data. http://www.sas.com/software/visual-analytics/demos/un-comtrade-basic.html

As the birthplace of automobile luxury brands, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Porsche, and Audi, cars are one of Germany’s highest grossing exports ($1.3 trillion); second place to only industrial machinery ($1.4 trillion) (SAS, 2015).  The SAS Export Trade Composition (2015) section shows that the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and China, are Germany’s top importers of vehicles (Figure 2).  During the global recession of 2008-2009, vehicle exports took a hit during the, however they climbed to $242 billion in 2013 (SAS 2015).  In 2013, German vehicle exports were higher than in 2008, by $10 billion (SAS, 2015).      

Recently, German cars have been a topic of hot debate in popular press.  Volkswagen, one of Germany’s largest automakers, has been the topic of recent press following allegations by the EPA. In September, 2015, the EPA announced that Volkswagen would be issued a violation, due to many Volkswagen diesels failing the EPA CO2 emissions standards.  The New York Times (Russell, Gates, Keller and Watkins, 2015) explains that the cars were programmed to “cheat” during emissions tests, and the scandal sparked ongoing investigations in Europe.  With vehicles being Germany’s second-highest exported commodity, consumer kick-back may cause Germany’s trade composition to become less positive.  Friedrich Geiger (2015), of the Wall Street Journal, reports that Volkswagen stocks have declined by over 20 percent since the scandal made headlines in September. However, it would be interesting to see how the Volkswagen scandal affects Germany’s trade composition, and how much of an impact the scandal have on the German economy.  

References

Geiger, F. (2015, December 11). Volkswagen's World-Wide Sales Fall on Declines in U.S., South  America. Retrieved December 13, 2015, from http://www.wsj.com/articles/volkswagen-sales-fall-    showing-commercial-strain-of-emissions-scandal-1449845910

Russell, K., Gates, G., Keller, J., & Watkins, D. (2015, November 25). How Volkswagen Got Away  With Diesel Deception. Retrieved December 13, 2015, from  http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/business/international/vw-diesel-emissions-scandal-  explained.html?_r=0

UN Comtrade Demo | SAS® Visual Analytics. (2015). Retrieved December 13, 2015, from              http://www.sas.com/software/visual-analytics/demos/un-comtrade-basic.html