Everyone wishing to be informed about the economic, social and ecologic situation of Germany as compared with its European neighbours may download a brochure called „ Im Blickpunkt – Deutschland in der Europäischen Union 2006″ from the website of the Federal Statistical Office. On more than 90 pages there is a lot of information collected by the brochure´s authors. The country comparisons in this brochure are based on the latest harmonised data made available by the European Statistical Office (Eurostat).
Thus, Germany, for instance, is by far the leading trading nation in the EU-25. In the year 2005 German net exports amounted to 158.0 billion Euros. The Netherlands, which came second, generated an export surplus of 34.9 billion Euros which corresponds to just one fifth of the German figure. Also with regard to inflation Germany did best in Europe: with an inflation rate of 1.9% Germany besides Finland (0.8%) and the Netherlands (1.5%) was among those countries with most stable prices in the Eurozone in 2005.
In six chapters the brochure gives further information on topics such as population, living conditions, education, labour market, economy and environment. Germany´s situation in the respective fields as compared with other EU member states is illustrated by numerous diagrams and tables.
The brochure is published in both German and English language and may be downloaded free of charge from the website of the Federal Statistical Office. There is also a print version which is, however, subject to a charge. 