How dependent is China on Germany?

A product has a dominant supplier when a single country sells more than 50% of what is bought of it; we flag it separately above 75%.

• Germany sells 8.8% of what the world exports of vehicle lights and signals; next come Mexico (10.4%), Czechia (6.5%) and Taiwan (5.3%). The rest of the world exported 27.7 times what China buys from Germany.
• Germany sells 12.7% of what the world exports of speedometers, taximeters and counters; next come Portugal (13.2%), Mexico (13%) and United States (5.4%). The rest of the world exported 16 times what China buys from Germany.
• Germany sells 32.7% of what the world exports of planing, sawing and gear-cutting machines; next come Switzerland (8.3%), Japan (8%) and Italy (6.7%). The rest of the world exported 3.5 times what China buys from Germany.
• Germany sells 19.6% of what the world exports of woodworking machines; next come Italy (13.1%), Taiwan (6%) and Austria (3.8%). The rest of the world exported 34.7 times what China buys from Germany.
• Germany sells 30.5% of what the world exports of other metalworking machines; next come Italy (11.1%), United States (4.3%) and Taiwan (3.4%). The rest of the world exported 14.5 times what China buys from Germany.
• Germany sells 21.4% of what the world exports of antifreeze; next come Belgium (16.7%), United States (14.4%) and Netherlands (5.1%). The rest of the world exported 82.5 times what China buys from Germany.
• Germany sells 13.2% of what the world exports of railway maintenance vehicles; next come Austria (26.5%), United States (12.9%) and Italy (7.4%). The rest of the world exported 70.1 times what China buys from Germany.
• Germany sells 35.8% of what the world exports of filter blocks and plates of paper pulp; next come Thailand (7.4%), Denmark (7.1%) and Switzerland (5.5%). The rest of the world exported 14.8 times what China buys from Germany.
• Germany sells 20.7% of what the world exports of dithionites and sulfoxylates; next come India (16.9%), Belgium (7.6%) and Italy (3.8%). The rest of the world exported 21.9 times what China buys from Germany.
• Germany sells 5.3% of what the world exports of hand-operated kitchen appliances; next come France (5.3%), Italy (3.4%) and Colombia (2.8%). The rest of the world exported 69.2 times what China buys from Germany.

Exports from the rest of the world already have buyers; the figure shows scale, not availability.

China is Germany’s 4th-largest customer, with 6.1% of its exports.

• Trade between China and Germany
• Who does China rely on?
• Who does Germany rely on?
• Dependence of China on Australia
• Dependence of China on Brazil
• Dependence of China on Indonesia
• Dependence of China on Vietnam
• Dependence of China on the United States
• Dependence of China on Guinea
• Dependence of China on Japan
• Dependence of China on South Africa
• Dependence of China on Chile
• Dependence of China on New Zealand
• Dependence of China on Thailand
• Dependence of China on South Korea
• Dependence of China on Canada
• Dependence of China on the Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Dependence of China on Russia
• Dependence of China on Switzerland
• Dependence of China on India
• Dependence of China on Kazakhstan
• Dependence of China on the Philippines
• Dependence of China on France
• Dependence of China on Denmark
• Dependence of China on Namibia
• Dependence of China on Myanmar
• Dependence of China on Malaysia
• Trade profile of China
• Trade profile of Germany
• All countries

Sources and licenses

• CEPII BACI · Licence Ouverte Etalab 2.0
• Natural Earth · Public domain

Methodology

The data come from CEPII BACI (Etalab 2.0 licence), which reconciles what the exporting and the importing country report, in current USD, FOB. Data up to 2024.

Dependence is the share of a country’s imports (or exports) that each partner accounts for. It does not measure whether a product has a substitute or how much it would cost to change supplier.

The concentration index (HHI) adds up the square of each partner’s share, in percent: it runs from 0 to 10,000. Its equivalent is 10,000 ÷ HHI, the number of partners of the same size that would give that value.

Products are HS4 headings of the 1992 nomenclature (some combine different goods), with a floor of $1 million per product and country.

The EU is the 27 current members in every year; the United Kingdom is outside the EU throughout the series.

Re-exports: countries that act as redistribution hubs carry their notice and the figures are not corrected.