Ukraine Overtakes Russia In Trade With Germany For The First Time

The data was provided by the Eastern Committee of the German Economy.

Russia's war with Ukraine is changing the structure of Germany's foreign trade with Eastern Europe. This is stated in the message of the Eastern Committee of the German Economy (Ost-Ausschuss der Deutschen Wirtschaft, OA), published on Thursday, November 9. Russia continues to lose its position as a trade partner of Germany, while other markets overtake it. In September 2023, Germany's trade with Ukraine (840 million euros) was for the first time greater than its trade with Russia (810 million euros), reports DW.

In general, as noted in the message, unfavorable trends in the world economy also affect Germany's foreign trade. For nine months — from January to September 2023 — the nominal turnover with 29 countries of Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia decreased by 5.4 percent compared to the first three quarters of last year. In September, the volume of trade was even ten percent below the level of the previous month. However, Eastern trade shows better results than the foreign trade of Germany as a whole (-14.4%).

It is urgent to consistently eliminate foreign economic obstacles and not to create new ones. This, in particular, includes the openness of borders for the movement of goods. Therefore, the Eastern Committee is watching with great concern the long waiting time for trucks on the Polish-Ukrainian border and the recent blockades by Polish transporters who protested against cheaper competition from Ukraine.

Foreign trade assistance includes, first of all, the expansion of the single European market in the medium and long term, which is extremely important for the German economy. It is also necessary to better tie the countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus to it, according to the Eastern Committee of the German Economy.