German exports hit a record in June as United States shipments fall 14.2 percent
German exports reached 139.3 billion euros in June 2026, up 0.9 percent on May and 6.6 percent on June 2025, the highest calendar and seasonally adjusted monthly figure the Federal Statistical Office has ever recorded. The previous record, 139.1 billion euros, was set in September 2022. Imports rose 4.4 percent on the month to 123.9 billion euros, leaving a trade surplus of 15.4 billion euros. Both releases, foreign trade and the production index, were published on 7 August 2026.
The record headline conceals a sharp divergence by destination.
| June 2026 trade, billions of euros | Value | Change on May |
|---|---|---|
| Total exports | 139.3 | plus 0.9 percent |
| Total imports | 123.9 | plus 4.4 percent |
| Exports to European Union member states | 79.3 | plus 1.3 percent |
| Imports from European Union member states | 63.6 | plus 7.4 percent |
| Exports to the United States | 12.1 | minus 14.2 percent |
| Imports from the United States | 8.7 | minus 9.6 percent |
| Exports to China | 6.2 | minus 0.3 percent |
| Imports from China | 16.5 | plus 9.1 percent |
| Exports to the United Kingdom | 7.3 | plus 7.7 percent |
The United States figure is the one to hold on to. Shipments there fell 14.2 percent in a single month, yet were only 1.2 percent lower than in June 2025. On our calculation the United States took 8.7 percent of German exports in the month, against a European Union share of 56.9 percent. Imports from China rose 9.1 percent to 16.5 billion euros, more than two and a half times what Germany sold there.
The record export month did not produce a stronger external balance. The trade surplus fell from 19.3 billion euros in May to 15.4 billion in June, a contraction of 3.9 billion euros or 20.2 percent in a single month on our calculation, because the 4.4 percent rise in imports comfortably outpaced the 0.9 percent rise in exports.
For the first half of 2026 exports were 816.6 billion euros and imports 711.6 billion, up 3.7 percent and 4.4 percent respectively, giving a surplus of 105.0 billion euros. Our reading is that the half-year surplus is being compressed from the import side rather than eroded on exports.
Production told a quieter story. Output rose 0.2 percent on the month in June, seasonally and calendar adjusted, and was 0.1 percent lower than a year earlier. The April to June quarter was 0.7 percent above the first quarter. May was revised down to plus 0.7 percent from the plus 0.9 percent first reported.
| Production, June 2026 | Change on May |
|---|---|
| Total production | plus 0.2 percent |
| Industry excluding energy and construction | 0.0 percent |
| Motor vehicles and parts | plus 3.6 percent |
| Other transport equipment | plus 8.4 percent |
| Machinery and equipment | minus 3.9 percent |
| Capital goods | plus 0.2 percent |
| Consumer goods | plus 1.0 percent |
| Intermediate goods | minus 0.9 percent |
| Energy production | plus 1.9 percent |
| Construction | plus 0.1 percent |
| Energy-intensive branches | minus 1.8 percent |
Industry excluding energy and construction was flat on the month and 0.8 percent lower than a year earlier. Energy-intensive branches fell 1.8 percent on the month but were 2.2 percent higher than a year earlier, and 2.5 percent higher across the second quarter.
Why it matters: a record export month that rests on a 14.2 percent monthly collapse in shipments to the largest single-country market is not the clean signal the headline suggests. Our reading is that German exporters have found demand elsewhere – the European Union, the United Kingdom – fast enough to more than offset the American shortfall in one month, and that this is a redirection story rather than a growth story. For Gulf buyers of German capital goods the relevant line is machinery and equipment, down 3.9 percent in the month, against motor vehicles up 3.6 percent: the equipment cycle and the vehicle cycle are moving in opposite directions.
Looking ahead: July foreign trade and production figures are due in early September. The June manufacturing orders release, published on 6 August, showed headline orders up 3.1 percent but down 0.5 percent excluding large orders, so the order book behind these production figures is thinner than the headline implies.
Sources: Federal Statistical Office of Germany, press release number 278, foreign trade in June 2026 and the first half of 2026, 7 August 2026; press release number 279, production in June 2026, 7 August 2026.
