The German economy grew by 0.1 percent in the third quarter, according to preliminary figures from the German statistics agency Destatis. Due to growth, the German economy is avoiding a recession; Germany’s economy contracted in the second quarter.
The economy of our eastern neighbors is driven in particular by higher consumer spending, the statistics office writes. In addition to higher consumer spending, Germany also saw exports increase.
With economic growth between July and October, Germany is doing slightly better than expected. Analysts expected a contraction of 0.1 percent. In two consecutive quarters of economic contraction there is a technical recession.
The performance in the second quarter was adjusted downwards: instead of a contraction of 0.1 percent, GDP growth ended at -0.2 percent.
“Recession or not, the German economy is stagnating,” says economist Carsten Brzeski in a response. He divides the German economy into two parts: a depressing and a carefree side.
“On the one hand you have the depressing side, in which we see that the industry sector is still not recovering,” writes Brzeski.
In addition, Germany continues to suffer from external foreign factors, such as the Brexit and the trade war between China and the US.
“On the other hand, you have the carefree side, in which we see that consumers spend more, a strong labor market, and a construction sector that is booming,” writes the economist.
Lesley Woutersen, one of the co-founders of the EconomicInform gives away all of his free time to the project. He is interested in stock exchange and digital assets. Lesley can be reached by lesley.woutersen@economicinform.com.
