Economic importance of the extractive industry
Contribution to Export 1
Latest Update: December 2025
Interesting Facts
Germany is characterised by a strongly export-oriented and diversified economic structure. In 2023 (2024), Germany exported goods worth a total of around €1.58 trillion (€1.57 trillion).2,3 Products of the extractive industries accounted for some €5.2 billion (€4.7 billion) of this amount, equivalent to 0.33% (0.30%) of total exports. At around €2.9 billion (€2.5 billion), crude oil and natural gas accounted for the largest share of exports.
Data on the exported goods of the extractive industries also include previously imported goods, so-called re-exports (cf. “The extractive industry in Germany”). Domestically-extracted natural gas is almost completely consumed in Germany. The “Crude oil and natural gas” sector is followed by “Quarried natural resources, other mining products” with approx. €1.6 billion (€1.6 billion). Exports also included ores worth approx. €0.3 billion (€0.3 billion) and coals valued at about €0.4 billion (€0.3 billion). Here too, the figures include re-exports.4,5
Exports of the ‘Mining and Quarrying’ sector 2022 (2023)
| Raw materials | Exports in millions of tonnes | Value in millions of euros |
|---|---|---|
| Crude oil | 0,01 (0,002) | 5,4 (1,2) |
| Natural gas | 10,5 (7,5) | 8.977,8 (3.574,8) |
| Hard coal | 1,0 (0,8) | 271,0 (231,5) |
| Lignite | 0,8 (0,7) | 95,4 (135,8) |
| Iron ores | 1,5 (1,1) | 258,4 (162,2) |
| Salt, pure sodium chloride (without table salt) | 3,7 (3,5) | 259,4 (296,9) |
| Natural sands of all kinds | 9,1 (7,3) | 144,9 (155,0) |
| Quartz, quartzite | 0,6 (0,7) | 11,2 (30,2) |
| Kaolin and kaolin-containing clay and loam | 1,0 (0,7) | 74,7 (73,5) |
| Granite, porphyry, basalt, sandstone | 0,2 (0,1) | 12,5 (11,7) |
| Field stones, gravel, crushed stones | 10,6 (10,0) | 211,6 (229,0) |
| Dolomite | 0,2 (0,2) | 13,3 (13,2) |
| Gypsum stone, anhydrite, gypsum | 1,8 (1,5) | 135,0 (142,8) |
| Limestone | 0,3 (0,2) | 5,7 (4,8) |
Detailed sources see endnotes. Own representation.
Sources
1 The export figures for 2023 are provisional data.
2 Destatis (2025) Statistics “External trade”, table code 51000-0001 “Export and import (external trade): Germany, years”. URL: https://www-genesis.destatis.de/genesis/online?operation=statistic&levelindex=0&levelid=1712326275847&code=51000#abreadcrumb, as of February 2025
3 Destatis (2025): Export and import (foreign trade): Germany, years, countries, classification of goods, table code 51000-0007. URL: https://www-genesis.destatis.de/datenbank/online/statistic/51000/details
4 For detailed source information see final notevii
5 Information on some suppliers of various raw materials and products can be accessed via the BDI export database: Crude oil – manufacturers and suppliers.