BERLIN, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- Last year, Germany imported 12 percent more Christmas products worth a total of around 143 million euros (159 million U.S. dollars), the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) announced on Monday.
With 12,740 tons out of 17,720 tons of Christmas products, China supplied 72 percent of Christmas products imported to Germany, an increase of 6 percent compared to the previous year, according to Destatis.
In 2018, Germany had exported 742,000 Christmas trees which was a decline of 17 percent compared to the year before. As usual, the main buyer of German Christmas trees had been the Netherlands, Destatis noted.
According to the main association of the German wood industry (HDH), almost 30 million Christmas trees would be sold in Germany in this year's season. Both the number of Christmas trees as well as prices were expected to remain at last year's level.
German retailers had generated around 19 percent of their sales in 2018 during the Christmas season. According to Destatis, presents such as toys, books, consumer electronics and watches as well as jewelry were particularly important for the Christmas business in Germany.
The Christmas bonus for German employees was a "welcomed premium" for many consumers, Destatis noted. This year, at least 87 percent of employees covered by collective agreements in Germany would receive such a Christmas bonus, 1.9 percent more than in 2018.
