According to preliminary calculations by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), price-adjusted gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023 was 0.3% lower than a year earlier. The calendar-adjusted decline in economic output was 0.1%. According to Destatis, high prices at all stages of the economy dampened economic activity. This was joined by unfavourable financing conditions due to rising interest rates and lower demand from Germany and abroad. 

Germany’s current account recorded a surplus of €27.6 billion in March 2024, down €1.1 billion on the previous month’s level. This was mainly attributable to a lower surplus in invisible current transactions, which comprise services as well as primary and secondary income.

Economic output in Germany increased again somewhat of late according to the Bundesbank’s Monthly Report. Benefiting from favourable weather conditions, construction in particular picked up again recently. “Industrial output and exports [also] performed better than had been expected based on the weak demand,” the economists write. However, private consumption remained sluggish in the first quarter. Consumers were unsettled despite the stable labour market and real income growth. Inflation eased only marginally and stood at 2.7% in the first quarter.

Speaking at a symposium, Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel said an official farewell to Claudia Buch and Joachim Wuermeling, both of whom had left the Executive Board on 31 December 2023. Claudia Buch had been Vice-President of the Bundesbank since 2014 and Joachim Wuermeling had been an Executive Board member since 2016.