Germany has hit a new record high in terms of exporting software and information and telecommunications services. In the first half of 2007 exports increased by 3% to 5.9 billion Euros as compared to the same period in 2006. This was communicated by the German Association for Information Management, Telecommunications and New Media (BITKOM). Since the year 2000 annual exports have even doubled amounting to currently 12 billion Euros.
Taking into account the export of hardware, the turnover generated by exports of ITC companies over the first six months of 2007 even amounted to 27.5 billion Euros. The share of software and services in this total export increased from 14% in 2000 to currently 21%. ITC services include among other things the implementation and operation of IT systems for clients, telephone and satellite services as well as long-distance data transmission. Most important customer countries are the USA, Great Britain and France.
At the same time imports of software and ITC services have also increased by 5.3% to 6.3 billion Euros in the first half of 2007 as compared to the same period in the previous year. Most imports (20%) come from the USA. The strongest growth was registered for imports from India. In the first half of 2007 imports of software and ITC services from India amounted to about 150 million Euros which is almost 50% more on the previous year.
The BITKOM calculations are based on data provided by the Deutsche Bundesbank and the Federal Statistical Office. 