The Market Environment for German Exports in the Shadow of the Coronavirus Pandemic

Dr. Hubertus Bardt

Managing Director, Head of the Research

Dr. Sonja Beer

Economist

For an export-oriented economy like Germany's, this means a sharp drop in international demand, and the present article attempts to assess the potential ramifications for selected branches of German industry. Recently, in fact, export risks have actually declined. While at the beginning of April almost half the usual export volume was still destined for high-risk countries where the Coronavirus was widespread and increasingly virulent, by the first half of June this proportion had fallen to a mere 13 per cent. Nevertheless, the severe economic disruption in many countries is leading to a decline in trade volumes. More than half of German manufacturing’s export markets will shrink by at least 6 per cent this year, clearly demonstrating that the macroeconomic market environment for German exports has deteriorated enormously as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic.