Status: 10/28/2022 10:11 am
The gross domestic product has surprisingly increased by 0.3 percent in the past three months, as reported by the Federal Statistical Office. Economists had feared a decline and a slide into recession.
Despite the energy crisis, the German economy grew surprisingly in the third quarter. The Federal Statistical Office announced in an initial estimate that gross domestic product increased by 0.3 percent from July to September compared to the previous quarter. A decline was initially expected.
High inflation, rising interest rates and supply problems in industry continue to cause problems for the German economy. Consumers are reluctant to consume because of the dwindling purchasing power, while cancellations in construction have recently increased due to the rise in costs. In addition, there is weaker demand from abroad, as the global economy is also under pressure.
Also in previous quarters surprising with growth
At the beginning of the year, the economy was doing even better than expected: The statisticians corrected the increase in GDP for the first quarter to 0.8 percent from the 0.2 percent initially mentioned.
In the second quarter, GDP had still grown minimally by 0.1 percent – the Federal Statistical Office had initially expected stagnation in economic output in a first flash estimate. If there are two negative quarters in a row, there is talk of a recession.
Government anticipates recession
According to the autumn forecast by Economics Minister Robert Habeck, the federal government expects the German economy to shrink by 0.4 percent in the coming year. For the current year, it still expects growth of 1.4 percent due to the robust first six months.
In the afternoon, the Federal Statistical Office will also publish the first inflation estimate for October.