Germany's trade in goods: A survey of the evidence from transaction data

Recently, new data on international trade in goods by German firms became available that are based on transaction level data collected by the customs (for trade with partners outside the European Union) or reported by the firms when trading with partners inside the EU (for the statistics on intra-EU trade). The data cover detailed information on the goods traded, its value, its weight, and the country of destination (for exports) or origin (for imports). In short, the data do not only show "who trades and how much", but also "who trades how much of which goods of which value and which weight with firms from which countries". Furthermore, this information is available not only for firms from manufacturing industries, but for firms from all parts of the economy. Transaction level data that include information on the German firm involved in the transaction have been prepared by the Federal Statistical Office for the reporting years 2009 onwards. These data have been used in a number of studies that shed light on various aspects of Germany's trade in goods for the first time. This survey summarizes what we have learnt from these studies.