By Maria Martinez
BERLIN (Reuters) – The German economy contracted for the second consecutive year in 2024, being the weakest economy again among eurozone peers.
Europe’s biggest economy contracted by 0.1% in the final quarter of last year and shrank by 0.2% over the full-year 2024, the Federal Statistics Office said on Wednesday.
The full-year decrease in gross domestic product (GDP) compared with a forecast by analysts polled by Reuters for a 0.2% drop in 2024.
As an export oriented economy, Germany is suffering from weak global demand and competition from Chinese products. Exports fell by 0.8% in 2024, compared with the previous year.
Following the contraction in the last quarter of the year, the economy could be in a winter recession if the first quarter of 2025 was also negative.
A technical recession is defined as two consecutive quarters in contraction.
(Reporting by Maria Martinez, Writing by Miranda Murray)
