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The European Commission has lowered the economic forecast for the EU for the third time in a row.
© Daniel Reinhardt/dpa
The EU economy started the year weaker than expected - the European Commission is lowering its economic forecast for the third time in a row.
Expectations for Germany are also murkier.
Brussels - According to a forecast by the European Commission, the EU economy will grow more slowly this year than recently expected.
The authority expects growth of 0.9 percent for the EU in 2024, according to an estimate published in Brussels.
This means she is lowering her forecast for the third time in a row.
In the fall, the commission expected growth of 1.3 percent.
For the Eurozone, the authority is now forecasting growth of 0.8 percent for the current year (autumn: 1.2 percent).
“After a difficult year in 2023, the European economy developed somewhat weaker than expected,” said Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis.
However, the recovery is expected to gradually accelerate over the course of the year and into 2025.
Inflation continues to fall, and real wage increases combined with a resilient labor market should support consumer demand, said Dombrovskis.
“However, the global environment remains very uncertain.
We are closely monitoring geopolitical tensions that could negatively impact growth and inflation.”
The EU Commission also scaled down its economic forecast for Germany: According to estimates, the economy in the Federal Republic will grow by 0.3 percent this year.
In November, the authority predicted growth of 0.8 percent for the EU's largest economy in 2024.
The EU Commission is still a little more optimistic about Germany than the federal government: it only expects growth of 0.2 percent for 2024.
The Commission also lowered its estimate for last year and now assumes growth of 0.5 percent in the EU and Eurozone (previously: 0.6 percent).
The estimate for 2025 predicts growth of 1.7 percent for the community of states and 1.5 percent for the euro countries.
For Germany, the Commission continues to expect an increase of 1.2 percent for the coming year.
According to the Commission's estimates, annual inflation in the euro zone will weaken faster than expected in the autumn - from 5.4 percent in 2023 to 2.7 percent this year and 2.2 percent next year.
dpa