Factsheet

The strong links across the Atlantic between Germany and the United States encompass trade, security, the pursuit of peace, and cultural ties. The United States is Germany’s closest ally and partner outside the European Union. The European Union and the United States are important partners in a transatlantic relationship based on vital mutual interests and values. We share a deep commitment to the advancement of democracy and human rights around the world. Leaders of Germany and the United States meet bilaterally as well as in the context of meetings that bring world leaders together, like the annual G-8 Summits and UN General Assemblies.

Some facts about the ties that link the peoples of Germany and the Europe with those of the United States:

Travel & Communication

• 500,000 airline passengers cross the Atlantic every day.
• People in Europe and North America exchange 1 million phone calls a day.
• Email messages between the two contents number 1.4 billion a day.
• US travelers spent approximately $1.7 billion in Germany in 2000 (out of a total $18.7 billion spent by foreign travelers in Germany)
• US travelers rank second only to visitors from the Netherlands in terms of overnight stays in Germany.
• In eastern Germany, more travelers come from the United States than any other country.

Jobs & Investment

• German companies are responsible for roughly 700,000 jobs in the US, and US companies have created roughly the same number in Germany.
• German investments in the US total about $35 billion.
• About 20 percent of German foreign direct investment goes to the US.
• About 10 percent of US investments in Germany are in the new federal states, making the US the largest investor in eastern Germany.
• 46 % of US direct investment abroad was in the countries of the EU as of 2000.
• EU countries accounted for more than 60 % of foreign direct investment in the US as of 1999.

Germany-US Trade

The US remains the second largest market, behind France, for German exports. And the US is the third largest importer, behind France and the Netherlands, of goods into Germany.

• 3.75 % of US exports went to Germany in 2000 4.8 % of US imports came from Germany.
• 10.3 % of German exports went to the US in 2000 8.5 % of German imports came from the US

EU ­ US Trade

• At $1 billion a day in transatlantic trade and investment flows, the EU and the US have the largest bilateral trading and investment relationship in the world.
• Together the EU and the US account for roughly half the entire world economy.
• The US is the top destination for EU exports and the top source of imports into the EU.
• 24.8 % of EU exports went to the US in 2000 19.2% of EU imports came from the US
• 21% of US exports came from the EU in 2000 18 % of US imports went to the EU
• The Transatlantic Business Dialogue is an informal process through which European and American companies and business associations develop joint recommendations for EU-US trade policy, working together with the European Commission and the US administration. See the TABD homepage for more information, including its 2001 Mid-Year Report.

People

Numerous public and private exchange programs support students, researchers, professionals and other individuals.

Students

• Europe is the most popular destination for US students studying abroad. In the 1998/1999 academic year, 68% (more than 88,000) of US students who studied abroad went to Europe.
• Europe ranks second behind Asia in the number of students studying in the US. Europeans made up 15% of foreign students at US institutions in the 1999/2000 academic year.
• Germany is among the top 10 destinations for US students studying abroad, attracting 4,534 students, 3.5% of Americans studying abroad, in the 1998/1999 academic year.

Scholars

• Germany sends more scholars to US academic institutions than any other European country and ranks third behind China and Japan in the number of scholars in the US. In the 1999/2000 academic year, 5,016 German scholars (6.7% of all foreign scholars in the US) were at US institutions.
• Europeans make up 36% of foreign scholars in the US with 27,214 Europeans at US institutions in 1999/2000. Only Asia sends more scholars to the US. Programs
• The German-American Fulbright Program, funded by both governments, is the largest in the overall Fulbright program of fellowships. Each year an average of 700 US and German students, scholars, teachers, administrators and journalists take part. The German Foreign Minister and the US Ambassador to Germany serve as honorary chairmen of the board of the German-American Fulbright Commission.
• Arthur F. Burns Fellowship Program sponsors journalists from the US and Germany.
• Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange sponsors high school students and young professionals from both countries.
• Robert Bosch Foundation provides fellowships for professionals and young leaders from the US to Germany and German Studies programs in the US.

Sources: German Federal Statistical Office, European Union, German National Tourist Office, Bureau of Economic Analysis (US Department of Commerce), Institute of International Education, German American Fulbright Commission.

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