Eastern trade lifts German economy in 2025

According to a recent analysis by the Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations, based on Federal Statistical Office data, foreign trade with 29 countries in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe as well as Central Asia rose by 2% in the first half of 2025, reaching €275 billion – an increase of more than €5.4 billion. Exports to Eastern Europe grew by €3 billion to €144 billion, up 2.2%. By contrast, Germany’s total exports fell by 0.1% to €786 billion in the same period.

Cathrina Claas Mühlhäuser, Chair of the Committee, commented:

“German trade with Eastern Europe continues to gain traction for the overall economy. Contrary to the wider trend, our exports to the region have grown strongly.”

Poland and Ukraine driving growth

Trade with Poland and Ukraine expanded at a faster pace than with most other partners. German-Polish trade reached a record high of more than €90 billion in the first half of 2025 – an increase of €4.6 billion, or 5.4%. German exports to Poland rose by €2.6 billion (+5.7%), while imports from Poland increased by €2 billion (+5.2%). As the report notes, exports to Poland (€49.4 billion) now exceed those to China (€41.4 billion).

Exports to Ukraine climbed by more than €1 billion (+30%) to €4.6 billion. Imports from Ukraine edged down slightly, by €70 million, to €1.52 billion. Claas Mühlhäuser underlined:

“Supporting and rebuilding Ukraine remains a key task for European politics and business.”

She also stressed the importance of a legally secure environment to encourage further investment.

Other trade relations: Czech Republic, Hungary, Russia, Belarus

Czech Republic: Trade increased by 3.4% to €57.8 billion. Exports grew by 1.6% to €26.6 billion, while imports rose by 5% to €31.2 billion.
Hungary: Bilateral trade contracted by 3.7% to €33.4 billion, with German exports down by about €1 billion (-6.2%).
Russia: Trade with Russia dropped by almost 13%, pushing the country down to 12th place among Germany’s Eastern partners. Imports fell by 37% to €667 million, while exports declined by 6% to €3.5 billion, consisting mainly of medical products exempt from sanctions.
Belarus: Trade fell sharply, down more than 70% to €320 million.

Southeast Europe and Central Asia – mixed trends

Croatia: +6.3%
Romania: +0.4%
Bulgaria: +2.3%
Serbia: –1.1%
North Macedonia: –13%

Central Asia showed a clear downward trend overall. In Kazakhstan, the region’s largest partner, trade volume fell by 18.5% to €4 billion. German imports dropped 24%, while exports declined by 5.4%.

By contrast, trade with Uzbekistan grew by more than 30% to €660 million, while trade with Azerbaijan rose by nearly 28% to just under €800 million.

Germany’s top 25 foreign trade partners, first half of 2025

Rank (previous year)
country
Trade in thousands of € Trade turnover 1H25
Goods traffic in thousand € Trade turnover 1H24
German imports in thousand € 1H25
German imports in thousand € 1H24
German exports in thousand € 1H25
German exports in thousand € 1H24
Change compared to previous year import %
Change compared to previous year export %
Change compared to previous year trading turnover %

1 (1)
USA
124,947,856
126,858,620
47,378,494
46,112,487
77,569,362
80,746,133
2.7
−3.9
−1.5

2 (2)
China
122,747,945
121,732,630
81,358,011
73,479,440
41,389,934
48,253,190
10.7
−14.2
0.8

3 (3)
Netherlands
104,871,110
103,543,623
49,253,666
47,865,876
55,617,444
55,677,747
2.9
−0.1
1.3

4 (4)
France
92,600,044
94,480,535
33,424,552
34,047,298
59,175,492
60,433,237
−1.8
−2.1
−2.0

5 (5)
Poland
90,017,132
85,378,796
40,604,655
38,610,284
49,412,477
46,768,512
5.2
5.7
5.4

6 (6)
Italy
78,441,663
75,876,835
36,351,976
34,248,287
42,089,687
41,628,548
6.1
1.1
3.4

7 (8)
Switzerland
65,831,962
61,694,228
28,675,399
26,655,889
37,156,563
35,038,339
7.6
6.0
6.7

8 (7)
Austria
65,759,049
64,420,947
26,605,559
25,638,150
39,153,490
38,782,797
3.8
1.0
2.1

9 (9)
United Kingdom
60,115,554
58,801,429
19,715,666
17,802,511
40,399,888
40,998,918
10.7
−1.5
2.2

10 (10)
Czech Republic
57,772,891
55,878,075
31,181,231
29,695,493
26,591,660
26,182,582
5.0
1.6
3.4

11 (11)
Belgium
53,043,108
54,000,764
23,379,433
23,697,549
29,663,675
30,303,215
−1.3
−2.1
−1.8

12 (12)
Spain
49,388,639
47,757,007
20,320,189
20,066,417
29,068,450
27,690,590
1.3
5.0
3.4

13 (13)
Hungary
33,413,691
34,711,530
17,672,775
17,934,039
15,740,916
16,777,491
−1.5
−6.2
−3.7

14 (15)
Türkiye
28,125,801
25,390,600
12,982,493
11,781,419
15,143,308
13,609,181
10.2
11.3
10.8

15 (15)
Sweden
24,179,995
23,582,891
9,663,421
9,194,708
14,516,574
14,388,183
5.1
0.9
2.5

16 (16)
Japan
23,206,504
21,400,388
11,247,338
11,552,954
11,959,166
9,847,434
−2.6
21.4
8.4

17 (17)
Romania
21,145,115
21,566,670
9,752,253
10,219,324
11,392,862
11,347,346
−4.6
0.4
−2.0

18 (20)
Norway
19,877,450
18,203,477
14,511,346
13,442,334
5,366,104
4,761,143
8.0
12.7
9.2

19 (19)
Denmark
19,783,532
18,640,570
7,762,197
7,358,734
12,021,335
11,281,836
5.5
6.6
6.1

20 (18)
Slovakia
19,567,166
19,380,315
10,462,712
10,391,455
9,104,454
8,988,860
0.7
1.3
1.0

21 (21)
Ireland
16,213,073
17,003,877
10,997,007
11,998,992
5,216,066
5,004,885
−8.4
4.2
−4.7

22 (23)
India
15,634,797
14,367,386
7,651,409
6,960,570
7,983,388
7,406,816
9.9
7.8
8.8

23 (22)
Republic of Korea
15,624,669
16,868,495
6,525,176
6,821,659
9,099,493
10,046,836
−4.3
−9.4
−7.4

24 (24)
Mexico
12,730,366
14,186,046
4,922,170
4,783,979
7,808,196
9,402,067
2.9
−17.0
−10.3

25 (25)
Taiwan
12,682,618
11,961,953
7,425,600
6,945,922
5,257,018
5,016,031
6.9
4.8
6.0