Europe’s largest economy just hit a speed bump. German exports fell 0.8% month-on-month in July 2026, dropping to €138.2 billion and snapping a five-month growth streak, according to data from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis).
The culprit is a familiar one: China. Shipments to Beijing fell 9.5% in a single month, landing at €5.6 billion. Euro-area exports weren’t much better, declining 2.8% to €53.9 billion. The one bright spot was the United States, where German exports surged 19.1% to €14.4 billion, a figure that’s up 28.3% year-on-year.
The numbers behind the slowdown
The July decline marks Germany’s first export contraction since January 2026.
Imports told an even more dramatic story, falling 5.7% in July. That pushed Germany’s trade surplus to €21.3 billion, up sharply from €15.4 billion in June.
