Enlarge image
Note on date shopping in Heidelberg: Private consumption collapsed by a total of 5.4 percent
Photo:
Ralph Peters / imago images / Ralph Peters
The German economy contracted somewhat more strongly in the first quarter than previously assumed.
The gross domestic product fell in the course of the third corona wave from January to March by 1.8 percent, as the Federal Statistical Office announced.
A flash estimate had only resulted in a minus of 1.7 percent compared to the previous quarter.
"After the German economy initially recovered somewhat in the second half of 2020, the corona crisis led to a renewed decline in economic output at the beginning of 2021," writes the authority.
Germany got off to a comparatively bad start to the year: the euro zone only shrank by 0.6 percent, while the world's largest economy, the USA, grew by 1.6 percent, also due to rapid vaccination progress.
Above crisis level again in autumn?
The renewed and in some cases tightened restrictions in the fight against the pandemic slowed down retail, hotels and restaurants in particular. Private consumption collapsed by a total of 5.4 percent. Foreign trade, on the other hand, increased due to the global economic recovery. Exports grew by 1.8 percent and imports by as much as 3.8 percent. The companies reduced their investments in machines, devices, vehicles and equipment nonetheless by 0.2 percent. Government consumption rose by 0.2 percent, while construction investments grew by 1.1 percent.
According to the Bundesbank, with rapid vaccination progress, there is a prospect that the containment measures against the corona pandemic could be significantly relaxed in the coming months.
The economy could then grow strongly in the summer and "already exceed its pre-crisis level in the autumn".
The federal government does not expect a return to the pre-crisis level until next year.
apr / Reuters