THE GUARDIAN: First consecutive year of declining GDP since early 2000s highlights challenges facing next government
Germany’s economy has shrunk for a second consecutive year for the first time in more than two decades, highlighting the challenges the next government will face after snap elections in February.
As voters prepare to head to the polls amid heightened political uncertainty in Europe’s largest economy, official figures showed gross domestic product fell by 0.2% last year after dropping by 0.3% in 2023.
The figures represent only the second two-year contraction in the German economy since the 1950s, after it shrank in 2002 and 2003.
“The early 2000s were the last time Germany received the very flattering title of ‘sick man of Europe’. History doesn’t repeat but it rhymes,” said Carsten Brzeski, an analyst at the Dutch bank ING. » | Richard Partington, Economics correspondent | Wednesday, January 15, 2025
