Central Banks

Germany’s Business Outlook Deteriorates More Than Expected

The German economy is struggling to emerge from a slump that saw gross domestic product fall in both 2023 and 2024.Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg

German business confidence dipped in December, underscoring the challenges for Europe’s largest economy to overcome years of economic weakness.

An expectations index by the Ifo institute declined to 89.7 from a revised 90.5 in November, a release Wednesday showed. That’s below the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey. A measure of existing conditions was unchanged.