According to preliminary figures from the Federal Statistical Office for the reporting period 2023, the Free State of Thuringia increased its export volume by almost 6 percent to €18.7 billion. Thuringian imports rose by 4.5 percent to €19.1 billion. The total trade volume thus amounted to €37.8 billion, and the trade deficit was just under €0.5 billion.
Interestingly, the growth rate of foreign sales for Thuringian manufacturing companies with more than 50 employees, as reported by the Thuringian State Office for Statistics, has decreased by 0.7 percent; however, the domestic sales of these companies have increased by 0.9 percent. This observation suggests that larger Thuringian companies, in particular, are finding it difficult to compete in the current international market.
For Germany, the trends are somewhat contradictory: Export volume shrank by 2.0 percent, while import volume declined significantly by 10.1 percent. This is partly due to falling import and export prices. However, in real terms, both goods exports and imports also decreased compared to the previous year. With a total trade volume of €2.9 trillion, Germany achieved a trade surplus of €210 billion.
