The German economy contracted 0.3% in the first quarter, according to final data published this Thursday by the German federal statistics agency (Destatis), which means that it entered a technical recession after two consecutive negative quarters.
These figures correct the provisional figures previously published by the department, which pointed to a stagnation of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) between January and March 2023, after the 0.5% drop registered in the last quarter of 2022.
“Following the contraction reflected at the end of 2022, another negative quarter was recorded,” Destatis president Ruth Brand said in a statement.
The contraction in GDP was the effect of the decrease in consumption derived from inflation which, despite having begun to be contained, after reaching a maximum of over 10% in October, stood at 7.2% year-on-year in April.
However, there were positive impulses in exports and investment, as well as a recovery in the construction and industrial equipment sector, in the production of machinery, household appliances and automobiles.
Thus, exports as a whole increased by 0.4% in this first quarter compared to the last quarter of 2022.
Imports, for their part, fell 0.9%, according to detailed data from Destatis, which highlight the drop experienced in fuels, minerals and chemical products.
Employment also increased, reaching 45.6 million people working, an interannual increase of 446,000 citizens or, in percentage terms, 1.0%.
According to these data, which corroborate the trend of the German federal employment agency, the rate of employment growth continues to accelerate.
Source: TSF
