Germany Sees Economy Contracting for Second Consecutive Year
- Government revises down output projection for 2024 to -0.2%
- Economy Minister Habeck sees recovery taking hold next year
Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg
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The German government revised down its gross domestic product forecast for this year to a contraction of 0.2%, the latest sign Europe’s biggest economy is struggling to shake off a prolonged period of inertia.
A decline in output in 2024 — following a drop of 0.3% last year — would mark only the second instance of consecutive years of shrinking GDP since West and East Germany were reunified in 1990. Economy Minister Robert Habeck had predicted expansion of 0.3% for this year in the government’s biannual forecasts published at the end of April.