According to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), gross domestic product (GDP) in 2021 was 2.7% higher than in 2020 (in price-adjusted terms). “Economic activity in 2021 was once again highly dependent on coronavirus infection rates and the associated containment measures,” said Georg Thiel, President of the Federal Statistical Office, at a press conference in Wiesbaden.

Economic activity in Germany may have more or less stagnated in the first quarter of 2022, the Bundesbank’s economists write in the current issue of the Monthly Report. They expect Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine to have had only a limited impact on Germany’s economy at first. Even so, the repercussions of the war are likely to significantly weaken the recovery, which had actually got off to a strong start. “Disruptions to foreign trade and supply chains, soaring energy prices and heightened uncertainty are weighing on enterprises and households,” the report states.

This year’s Spring Conference held by the Bundesbank’s Research Centre focused on “Structural changes and the implications for inflation”. A large number of researchers from central banks, universities and other institutions based in Germany and abroad met in Eltville to discuss this topic. Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel spoke in a video message. 

Germany’s current account recorded a surplus of €5.9 billion in October 2022, almost half of the previous month’s result.

Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann says that non-standard monetary policy measures can have a variety of effects on income and wealth distribution. “Much like conventional interest rate policy, the non-standard measures are more likely to have reduced income inequality,” he said in a speech in Hamburg.

Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann has spoken out in favour of making the rules on debt more binding. "It would be helpful for the rules of the Stability Pact to be simplified," he said in a speech delivered in Freiburg. Furthermore, Mr Weidmann added, a more rigorous interpretation of the rules could be achieved by giving responsibility for fiscal surveillance to an independent authority instead of the European Commission.