BBC: German economy barely grows at end of 2019

19 February 2020

The German economy had another very weak three months at the end of last year, according to official figures.

Gross domestic product (GDP), the total production of goods and services, was almost unchanged from the previous quarter.

Germany is very exposed to the tensions in international trade, and the weak new figures partly reflect a fall in overseas exports.

Compared with the same period in 2018, GDP was higher by just 0.4%.

Although there was some expansion, growth was reported at 0.0% when rounded to one decimal place by the German statistics office.

The sluggish performance was down partly to a decline in exports.

Investment in machinery and equipment was also "down considerably" between October and December.

The statistics office doesn't offer an explanation, but it is certainly possible that that reflects the uncertain outlook for international trade.

One factor that is likely to weigh on manufacturing firms when considering whether to invest is what sort of barriers they will face which could make it more difficult to sell their goods abroad.[...]

Full article on BBC

Official German statistics


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