Germany Export Price Index y/y

For the monthly calculated export price index, the prices in euro (foreign currencies are converted at the respective exchange rate) are calculated, which are incurred by the foreign buyer from the German border, they are not list prices. From a commercial point of view, such prices are given the addition FOB (Free on Board), which indicates not only the place where the price is collected, but also that the domestic seller bears the costs up to the port, the foreign buyer bears costs and risk from this point onwards. Prices do not include public charges such as VAT and excise duties. They are collected in euros at around 4,800 reporting points by around 6,100 price representatives. Foreign currencies are converted at the respective Euro exchange rate in the middle of the month.

The index can be described as the weighted average of the individual price change figures formed for a representative selection of export goods (the so-called price representatives). The index weights for the selected goods are based on the corresponding import values from the foreign trade statistics for the respective base year.

The individual price series are standardized to a base year (= 100). For some world trade goods – e.g. grains and metals – international stock exchange quotations are also used. To ensure that the monthly values of an individual price series only reflect "pure" price changes, adjustment procedures are used for quality changes.

The index is calculated according to the so-called Laspeyres formula. This means that the weighing figures from the current base year remain unchanged until the index is converted to a new base year. The next base year will be 2020, the latest one is 2010.

The export price index y/y measures the price changes of the respective month compared to the same month of the previous year.

The export and import price indices are used to calculate the terms of trade, which is a measure of the economic strength of an economy in international competition. If export prices rise compared to import prices, the terms of trade improve. This is seen as positive for the economy and can have a positive impact on the currency.