"Although this was the sixth record figure in a row, growth was significantly lower than in the two previous years. In 2018, the increase was still four and a half percent, in 2017 it was even eleven percent," says ZVEI Chief Economist Dr. Andreas Gontermann.

In December 2019, electrical imports to Germany increased by 3.4% year-on-year to 15.1 billion euros. Cumulatively from January to December, they rose by 2.5% to 196.9 billion euros. The export surplus increased by 800 million euros to 19.6 billion euros in 2019 compared to the previous year.

China and the USA were once again by far the two largest customer countries for German electrical exports last year. Deliveries to the People's Republic increased by 4.3 percent to 21.9 billion euros, while deliveries to America grew by 7.7 percent to 19.2 billion euros.

The third to tenth places are still occupied by European countries, four each from the eurozone and the rest of Europe. France remains the third largest customer, ahead of the Netherlands and Poland. Together, the ten largest export destinations account for almost half of all foreign deliveries by the German electrical and electronics industry.

German electrical and electronic exports to the so-called Visegrád states - i.e. Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary - amounted to 30.6 billion euros in 2019. That was a seventh of total industry exports and an above-average 3.8% more than in the previous year. "Since 2009, industry deliveries to these four countries have more than doubled. Taken together, around 40 percent more was sold here last year than in China," says Gontermann.