According to the data for January and February, Poland surpassed Italy and became Germany's 5th trading partner. The beginning of the year brought a 6.6 percent increase in mutual trade. In result, our trade balance with Germany has reached the level of 21 billion euro.

• According to the data for January and February, Poland surpassed Italy and became Germany's 5th trading partner. The beginning of the year brought a 6.6 percent increase in mutual trade. In result, our trade balance with Germany has reached the level of 21 billion euro.
• Germany is one of the most developed industrial countries in the world, and its economy is the fourth largest after the USA, China, and Japan. Germany's national income per capita as measured by purchasing power (PPS) in 2017 amounted to EUR 37.8 thousand and represented 124 % of the EU average (28).

For 20 years Germany has been Poland's first trading partner. According to preliminary data for 2019, the share of Germany in Polish total exports amounted to 27.59% and the share in imports amounted to 28.21%. The high dynamics of trade, which has lasted for several years, was intertwined with the growing sub-supplies for the export departments of the German economy and the improvement of their competitiveness, connected with the high exchange rate of the euro against the zloty. It is also worth to note the trade balance with Germany (positive for Poland). On the other hand, Germany also shows a positive trade balance with Poland (in 2017 16.3 billion euros), which is related to the fact that German exports include deliveries to Poland from third countries which are processed by the German customs. The structure of trade with Germany was dominated by: products of the electro-machinery industry (approx. 40%), including non-rail vehicles with their components and accessories. 

In the first half of 2019, the dynamics of Poland's turnover with Germany significantly decreased, which is related to the deterioration of Germany's situation in world trade and the fact that Polish industry has mainly been a subcontractor to Germany's industry.

A further deterioration in trade performance occurred in the first quarter of 2020, as a result of the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The greatest influence on the decrease in the export dynamics to Germany is attributable to the reduction of the exports in the sectors having a key share in exports: automotive (a decrease of 8.6%), furniture (a decrease of 7.2%), metallurgy (a decrease of 9.9%) and plastics (a decrease of 4.5%). The decrease in imports was mainly influenced by the reduction in imports of key products as well: vehicles and their components (a decrease of 13%), machinery and mechanical equipment (a decrease of 6.7%) as well as electrical equipment (a decrease of 17.3%).

By the end of 2018, Germany has invested 17.5% of total foreign capital invested in our country (second largest investor after the Netherlands, which invested 21.3% of their funds). The structure of German investments covers a wide range of sectors (financial, manufacturing, services).

5,415 companies with German capital were registered in Poland, including 2,369 companies with over 9 employees and 680 companies with capital exceeding USD 1 million. They employ a total of approximately 361 thousand employees. According to German data, so far 1800 companies from Poland have invested in the German market. These companies which employ approximately 21 thousand workers.