British German Trade hit a Record of 220 bn € in 2013
UK –GERMANY TRADING LINKS
Most recent statistics illustrate the importance of British-German trade relations. In 2013, the United Kingdom was again the most important trading Partner of Germany, at a record trade volume of 220 € bn, including goods and services, up from 215 € bn the previous year (according to statistics of the Deutsche Bundesbank, 3/2014:
TRADE
- The UK is Germany´s largest trading Partner. The UK overtook France in 2011. Exports plus imports in 2013:
|
|
|
Total trade
€ bn
|
|
1
|
United Kingdom
|
220
|
|
2
|
United States
|
202
|
|
3
|
Netherlands
|
201
|
|
4
|
France
|
196
|
- Germany is the UK’s second largest trading partner worldwide after the US.
o UK exports to Germany in 2013: € 73.7 bn
o
UK imports from Germany € 103.7 bn
- UK exports three times as much to Germany as to China (£43bn vs £14bn).
- UK exports to Germany have increased since the crisis in 2009 by 21% (up from £36bn to £43bn).
INVESTMENT
-
Total German Foreign Direct Investment
(FDI) in the UK is worth £65 billion. Germany was the
fourth most important source of FDI
in the UK in 2012.
- Total British FDI in Germany is worth £19 billion.
- Nearly 2,400 German companies have a presence in the UK, employing 334,000 people.
- In Germany, almost every tenth foreign company is British. There are over 1,200 British companies in Germany, employing 220,000 people.
EXAMPLES
OF GERMAN COMPANIES IN THE UK
- Bosch: one of the top German investors in the UK: 4,500 staff across 40 sites and €2.4bn in sales
- RWE: Through RWE npower produces 10% electricity used in UK, has 12GW of installed capacity, and serves 6.6m customers, with 13,400 employees.
- Siemens: present in the UK for 168 years and employs 13,000 including 5,000 involved in UK manufacturing and engineering at 13 manufacturing sites
- BMW: contributes £1.2 billion each year to UK GDP, BMW Group and its dealer network employ 18,000 people directly while supporting over 46,000 UK jobs in total, and contribute over £900 million per annum to the UK Exchequer. 1 in 5 BMWs has an engine made in the United Kingdom
POPULATION
- Populations in 2012: Germany 80.3m, UK 63.5m
- 131,000 German nationals were living in the UK in 2012, roughly equivalent to the population of Ipswich
- 103,400 British nationals were living in Germany in 2013, roughly equivalent to the population of Salzgitter
-
German
was the 7th most common nationality in the UK in 2012 (after Poland,
India, Ireland, Pakistan, United States and Lithuania)
Figures from UKTI,ONS, and Bundesbank Statistics, March 2014
Andreas Meyer-Schwickerath
British Chamber of Commerce in Germany e.V. (BCCG)
16. April 2014
