100 Billion Euro Limit Cracked

German electrical and electronic exports rose by 3.8 percent year-on-year to 17.5 billion euros in June of this year. In the first half of 2018 as a whole, they came to EUR 101.7 billion, 4.3 percent above the prior-year figure.

"For the first time ever, the 100 billion euro mark was exceeded in a half-year," says ZVEI Chief Economist Dr. Andreas Gontermann. Industry exports to the industrialized countries increased by 3.2 percent to 66.0 billion euros in the first half of the year. Exports to the emerging markets grew twice as fast (+ 6.5 % to 35.7 billion euros).

There were hardly any changes in the ranking of the largest customers in the first half of the year: China ranked first with 10.2 billion euros, 12.2 percent more exports than in the previous year. In the USA, German electronics were sold for a total of EUR 8.5 billion – which represents a small decrease of 0.9 percent. France remains third. From January to June, electrical and electronic exports increased by 2.0 percent to 6.2 billion euros. The highest growth among the top ten customer countries was achieved by the Netherlands (+ 14.3 % to 5.4 billion euros). Deliveries to the United Kingdom fell by 0.7 percent to 5.1 billion euros in the first half of the year.

Turkey, which is currently struggling with a currency crisis, ranked 17th in the export customer ranking of the German electrical and electronic industry last year. Between 2000 and 2017, industry exports to the country on the Bosporus almost tripled. Domestic electrical exports to Turkey are currently more or less stagnating. There was a slight decline of 0.2 percent to EUR 257.0 million in June and of 0.5 percent to EUR 1.5 billion for the first half of the year as a whole.

According to ZVEI calculations, the global electrical and electronic market grew by 6 percent to 4,223 billion euros last year. "For 2018 and 2019 we expect growth of 5 and 4 percent," says Dr. Gontermann. The Asian market (+ 6 % and + 5 %) should grow faster than the American (+ 5 % and + 4 %) and European (+ 4 % and + 3 %) markets.

The largest individual country markets in 2017 was China again (1,692 billion euros), the USA (598 billion euros), Japan (297 billion euros), South Korea (182 billion euros), and Germany (122 billion euros). China could grow by 7 percent this year and 6 percent next year, the USA by 5 percent in 2018 and 4 percent in 2019, while forecasts for Japan (+ 2 % and + 1 %) and South Korea (both + 1 %) are more moderate. The German market is expected to grow 4 percent in 2018 and 3 percent in 2019.

The world's largest market segments are electronic components (990 billion euros), information and communication technology (852 billion euros), and automation (522 billion euros). Growth rates of 6 and 4 percent are expected for electronic components in 2018 and 2019, 4.5 and 3.5 percent for ICT, and 5 and 4 percent for automation.