German Economy May Have Contracted in Final Quarter of 2011
This article is for subscribers only.
The German economy probably contracted in the final quarter of 2011 as the sovereign debt crisis damped demand for exports.
Europe’s largest economy shrank “roughly” 0.25 percent in the fourth quarter from the third, the Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden said today, adding it may revise its assessment by the time official data are published on Feb. 15. Growth slowed to 3 percent in 2011 from 3.7 percent in 2010, which was the most since German reunification two decades ago, the office said. Germany’s budget deficit amounted to 1 percent of gross domestic product last year.