As the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) reports, imports rose by 4.0% in volume compared to the same period last year and fell by 2.5% in value. German exports of agricultural products increased by 1.1% in volume, while they decreased by 0.2% in value.

Imports of agricultural products of plant origin predominate

Of the imports of agricultural products in the period January to November 2023, goods of plant origin (e.g. cereals, fruits, oil seeds) accounted for a quantitative share of 80.0%, while imports of goods of animal origin such as meat or milk only accounted for a share of 20.0%. In terms of value, plant products also predominated with a share of 65.7% compared to 34.3% for animal products. This means that 35.2 million tons of goods of plant origin worth 38.0 billion euros were imported into Germany from January to November 2023. In the same period, 8.8 million tons of goods of animal origin were imported, worth 19.9 billion euros. The volume of imports of goods of plant origin increased by 4.5% compared to January to November 2022, while the value of these imports fell by 4.8%. Imports of goods of animal origin increased by 2.2% in both volume and value from January to November 2023 compared to the same period last year.

The most important import goods of plant origin: grains, oil seeds as well as fruits and nuts

The most important imported agricultural goods of plant origin from January to November 2023 were grains, oil seeds (e.g. rapeseed, soybeans) as well as fruits and nuts. During this period, 11.1 million tons of grain were imported to Germany for 3.8 billion euros, 10.3 million tons of oil seeds worth 6.9 billion euros and 5.8 million tons of fruits and nuts for 10.7 billion euros. This means that grain imports increased by 9.4% in volume compared to January to November 2022, while they fell by 2.4% in value. The volume of imported oilseeds increased by 7.9%, while in value terms there was a decrease of 13.7%. Imports of fruits and nuts showed the opposite development. Here, quantitative imports fell by 0.1%, while imports in value rose by 0.7%.

Most important import goods of animal origin: milk/dairy products and meat

In the period from January to November 2023, German imports of goods of animal origin were dominated by milk and milk products as well as meat. 5.4 million tons of milk and milk products worth 10.1 billion euros and 1.9 million tons of meat worth 7.1 billion euros were imported to Germany. While imports of milk and dairy products increased by 4.5% in volume terms compared to January to November 2022, the amount of imported meat fell by 4.3%. In terms of value, both imports of milk and milk products (+0.8%) and meat imports (+0.9%) increased slightly.

More than two thirds of German exports of agricultural products are of plant origin

On the export side, goods of plant origin also accounted for a higher share of agricultural exports (67.7%) than goods of animal origin (32.3%). In terms of value, however, goods of animal origin dominated exports (57.7%) compared to goods of plant origin (42.3%). From January to November 2023, 18.5 million tons of goods of plant origin were exported from Germany for 15.2 billion euros. In contrast, there were exports of 8.8 million tons of goods of animal origin worth 20.7 billion euros. While goods of animal origin remained unchanged in volume from January to November 2023 compared to the same period last year and increased slightly by 0.4% in value, imports of goods of plant origin rose by 1.7% in volume but fell by 1.0% in value.

Most important export goods of plant origin: grain, vegetables and milling products

When it comes to exports of agricultural products of plant origin, grain exports dominated in the period January to November 2023 with 10.3 million tons worth 2.9 billion euros, followed by vegetable exports (e.g. potatoes) worth 2.7 million tons for 1.4 billion euros and the export of milling products (e.g. flour, semolina and malt) with 2.7 million tons and 2.3 billion euros. Grain exports rose by 4.8% in volume but fell sharply by 13.8% in value. Vegetable exports increased in volume (+2.0%) and value (+16.1%), while exports of milling products fell by 3.2% in volume and increased by 13.9% in value.

The most important export goods of animal origin: milk and milk products as well as meat

On the export side, milk and milk products as well as meat were the most important agricultural goods of animal origin. From January to November 2023, 5.2 million tons of milk and milk products were exported for 11.5 billion euros and 2.4 million tons of meat worth 7.0 billion euros. This means that exports of milk and milk products increased by 10.1% in terms of volume compared to January to November 2022. In terms of value, these exports fell by 1.0%. Meat exports, on the other hand, fell by 12.6% in volume but increased by 2.7% in value.

Most important recipient countries for German exports: Netherlands, Belgium and Italy

Most agricultural products went to Germany's neighboring countries or came from there. On the export side, most agricultural products went to the Netherlands. From January to November 2023, 7.6 million tons of agricultural products worth 6.3 billion euros were exported there. This was followed by Belgium with 1.9 million tonnes for 1.8 billion euros and Italy with 1.8 million tonnes for 3.5 billion euros. This increased the volume of exports of agricultural products to the three most important recipient countries. Quantitative exports to the Netherlands increased by 9.0%, exports to Belgium by 7.0% and to Italy by 7.3%. While exports in value to Belgium (+10.4%) and Italy (+3.8%) also increased, exports in value to the Netherlands fell slightly by 0.4%.

The most important source countries for German imports: Poland, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic

Most imports of agricultural products came from Poland to Germany from January to November 2023 with a volume of 6.7 million tons worth 4.3 billion euros. This was followed by the Netherlands with 5.3 million tonnes for 11.4 billion euros and the Czech Republic with 3.7 million tonnes for 1.5 billion euros. While quantitative imports of agricultural products from Poland (+19.2%) and the Czech Republic (+12.6%) increased compared to January to November 2022, imports from the Netherlands fell by 3.0%. In terms of value, only imports from Poland (+0.2%) increased slightly. In contrast, the value of imports of agricultural products from the Netherlands fell by 0.6% and imports from the Czech Republic by 7.1%.