The gross domestic product (GDP) fell a price-, seasonally and calendar-adjusted 10.1% on the first quarter of 2020. This was the largest decline since the beginning of quarterly GDP calculations for Germany in 1970. It was much larger than during the financial market and economic crisis (-4.7% in first quarter of 2009). The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that in the second quarter of 2020 a massive slump was recorded for exports and imports of goods and services as well as for household final consumption expenditure and capital formation in machinery and equipment. General government, however, ... (full story)

The German economy contracted by 10.1% in the second quarter, its steepest plunge on record, as household spending, business investment and exports collapsed during the COVID-19 pandemic, preliminary data showed on Thursday. “This was the sharpest decline since the quarterly GDP calculations for Germany began in 1970,” the statistics office said. On the year, gross domestic product in Europe’s largest economy declined by 11.7% from April to June, seasonally adjusted figures from the Federal Statistics Office showed. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected national output to shrink by 9.0% quarter-on-quarter and a ... (full story)