Chris Bryant, Columnist

Germany Needs an Economic Miracle. The Odds Don’t Look Good.

Merz faces an aging population that’s set to hold back growth and exacerbate strains on the federal budget and social security system.

February 24, 2025 at 9:36 AM UTC

By Chris Bryant

Chris Bryant is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering industrial companies in Europe. Previously, he was a reporter for the Financial Times.

Leader of Germany's conservative Christian Democratic Union Friedrich Merz.
Photographer: Pool/Getty Images Europe

Provide news feedback or report an error

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

This article is for subscribers only.

The victory of conservative candidate Friedrich Merz in Sunday’s German election has raised hopes that this 69-year-old former corporate lawyer will wave a magic wand and end years of economic stagnation. Germany’s unfavorable demographics mean this is much too optimistic.

Notwithstanding the energetic Merz’s desire to speedily form a government and the likelihood he’ll have to drop his resistance to more borrowing to rebuild Germany’s military, an aging population precludes a repeat of the boom this country enjoyed after World War II or following Gerhard Schroeder’s labor market reforms of the early 2000s.