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Economic overview
Germany — 37 years of data
Historical Values
| Year | Value |
|---|---|
| 1990 | The GDR is moving rapidly away from its centrally planned economy. As the 1990s begin, economic integration with West Germany appears inevitable, beginning with the establishment of a common currency. The opening of the border with the FRG in late 1989 and the continuing emigration of hundreds of thousands of skilled workers had brought growth to a standstill by yearend 1989. Features of the old economic regime that will quickly change: (a) the collectivization of 95% of East German farms; (b) s |
| 1990 | West Germany, a major economic power and a leading exporter, has a highly urbanized and skilled population that enjoys excellent living standards and comprehensive social welfare benefits. The FRG is poor in natural resources, coal being the most important mineral. The FRG's comparative advantage lies in the technologically advanced production stages. Thus manufacturing and services dominate economic activity, and raw materials and semimanufactures constitute a large proportion of imports. In 19 |
| 1991 | The newly unified German economy presents a starkly contrasting picture. Western Germany has an advanced market economy and is a leading exporter. It experienced faster-than-projected real growth largely because of demand in eastern Germany for western German goods. Western Germany has a highly urbanized and skilled population which enjoys excellent living standards, abundant leisure time, and comprehensive social welfare benefits. Western Germany is relatively poor in natural resources, coal be |
| 1992 | The Federal Republic of Germany is making substantial progress in integrating and modernizing eastern Germany, but at a heavy economic cost. Western Germany's growth in 1991 slowed to 3.1% - the lowest rate since 1987 - because of slack world growth and higher interest rates and taxes required by the unification process. While western Germany's economy was in recession in the last half of 1991, eastern Germany's economy bottomed out after a nearly two-year freefall and shows signs of recovery, p |
| 1993 | With the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe in 1989, prospects seemed bright for a fairly rapid incorporation of East Germany into the highly successful West German economy. The Federal Republic, however, continues to experience difficulties in integrating and modernizing eastern Germany, and the tremendous costs of unification have sunk western Germany deeper into recession. The western German economy grew by less than 1% in 1992 as the Bundesbank set high interest rates to offset the infl |
| 1994 | With the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe in 1989, prospects seemed bright for a fairly rapid incorporation of East Germany into the highly successful West German economy. The Federal Republic, however, continues to experience difficulties in integrating and modernizing eastern Germany, and the tremendous costs of unification pushed western Germany into its deepest recession since World War II. The western German economy shrank by 1.9% in 1993 as the Bundesbank maintained high interest ra |
| 1995 | Five years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, progress towards economic integration between eastern and western Germany is clearly visible, yet the eastern region almost certainly will remain dependent on subsidies funded by western Germany until well into the next century. The staggering $390 billion in western German assistance that the eastern states have received since 1990 - 40 times the amount in real terms of US Marshall Fund aid sent to West Germany after World War II - is just beginning |
| 1996 | Germany, the world's third-most powerful economy, faces its own unique problem of bringing its eastern area up to scratch after 45 years of communist rule. Despite substantial progress toward economic integration, the eastern states will continue to rely on subsidies from the federal government into the next century. Assistance to the east of about $100 billion annually has helped the region average nearly 8% annual economic growth since 1991, even though the overall German economy has averaged |
| 1997 | Germany, the world's third-most powerful economy, is gearing up for the European Economic and Monetary Union in 1999. One key economic priority is meeting the Maastricht criteria for entry into EMU, a goal complicated by record unemployment and stagnating growth. The government has implemented an austerity budget in its attempt to get the deficit down to 3% of GDP as required by Maastricht, but further cuts probably will be necessary and there is little consensus among the parties or elites abou |
| 1998 | In 1997 the German economy, the world's third most powerful, benefited from robust exports, particularly to other members of the EU and the US, as well as strengthening equipment investment. But anemic private consumption and a contraction in the construction industry limited the expansion. Unemployment continued to set post-war monthly records through the end of 1997 and averaged 4.3 million for the year. In preparation for the 1 January 1999 start of the European Monetary Union, the government |
| 1999 | Germany possesses the world's third most powerful economy, with its capitalist market system tempered by generous welfare benefits. On 1 January 1999, Germany and 10 other European Union countries launched the European Monetary Union (EMU) by permanently fixing their bilateral exchange rates and giving the new European Central Bank control over the zone's monetary policy. Germans expect to have the new European currency, the euro, in pocket by 2002. Domestic demand contributed to a moderate econ |
| 2000 | Germany possesses the world's third most technologically powerful economy after the US and Japan, but its basic capitalistic economy has started to struggle under the burden of generous social benefits. Structural rigidities - like a high rate of social contributions on wages - have made unemployment a long-term, not just cyclical, problem, while Germany's aging population has pushed social security outlays to exceed contributions from workers. The integration and upgrading of the eastern German |
| 2001 | Germany possesses the world's third most technologically powerful economy after the US and Japan, but structural market rigidities - including the substantial non-wage costs of hiring new workers - have made unemployment a long-term, not just a cyclical, problem. Germany's aging population, combined with high unemployment, has pushed social security outlays to a level exceeding contributions from workers. The modernization and integration of the eastern German economy remains a costly long-term |
| 2002 | Germany's affluent and technologically powerful economy turned in a relatively weak performance throughout much of the 1990s. The modernization and integration of the eastern German economy continues to be a costly long-term problem, with annual transfers from west to east amounting to roughly $70 billion. Germany's ageing population, combined with high unemployment, has pushed social security outlays to a level exceeding contributions from workers. Structural rigidities in the labor market - in |
| 2003 | Germany's affluent and technologically powerful economy has turned in a weak performance throughout much of the 1990s and early 2000s. The modernization and integration of the eastern German economy continues to be a costly long-term problem, with annual transfers from west to east amounting to roughly $70 billion. Germany's ageing population, combined with high unemployment, has pushed social security outlays to a level exceeding contributions from workers. Structural rigidities in the labor ma |
| 2004 | Germany's affluent and technologically powerful economy- the fifth largest national economy in the world - has become one of the slowest growing economies in the entire euro zone, and a quick turnaround is not in the offing in the foreseeable future. Growth in 2001-03 fell short of 1%. The modernization and integration of the eastern German economy continues to be a costly long-term process, with annual transfers from west to east amounting to roughly $70 billion. Germany's ageing population, co |
| 2005 | Germany's affluent and technologically powerful economy - the fifth largest in the world - has become one of the slowest growing economies in the euro zone. A quick turnaround is not in the offing in the foreseeable future. Growth in 2001-03 fell short of 1%, rising to 1.7% in 2004. The modernization and integration of the eastern German economy continues to be a costly long-term process, with annual transfers from west to east amounting to roughly $70 billion. Germany's aging population, combin |
| 2006 | Germany's affluent and technologically powerful economy - the fifth largest in the world - has become one of the slowest growing economies in the euro zone. A quick turnaround is not in the offing in the foreseeable future. Growth in 2001-03 fell short of 1%, rising to 1.7% in 2004 before falling back to 0.9% in 2005. The modernization and integration of the eastern German economy continues to be a costly long-term process, with annual transfers from west to east amounting to roughly $70 billion |
| 2007 | Germany's affluent and technologically powerful economy - the fifth largest in the world in PPP terms - showed considerable improvement in 2006 with 2.2% growth. After a long period of stagnation with an average growth rate of 0.7% between 2001-05 and chronically high unemployment, stronger growth has led to a considerable fall in unemployment to about 7% at the end of 2006. Among the most important reasons for Germany's high unemployment during the past decade were macroeconomic stagnation, the |
| 2008 | Germany's affluent and technologically powerful economy - the fifth largest in the world in PPP terms - showed considerable improvement in 2007 with 2.6% growth. After a long period of stagnation with an average growth rate of 0.7% between 2001-05 and chronically high unemployment, stronger growth led to a considerable fall in unemployment to about 8% near the end of 2007. Among the most important reasons for Germany's high unemployment during the past decade were macroeconomic stagnation, the d |
| 2009 | The German economy - the fifth largest economy in the world in PPP terms and Europe's largest - began to contract in the second quarter of 2008 as the strong euro, high oil prices, tighter credit markets, and slowing growth abroad took their toll on Germany's export-dependent economy. At just 1% in 2008, GDP growth is expected to be negative in 2009. Recent stimulus and lender relief efforts will make demands on Germany's federal budget and undercut plans to balance its budget by 2011. The refor |
| 2010 | The German economy - the fifth largest economy in the world in PPP terms and Europe's largest - is a leading exporter of machinery, vehicles, chemicals, and household equipment and benefits from a highly skilled labor force. Like its western European neighbors, Germany faces significant demographic challenges to sustained long-term growth. Low fertility rates and declining net immigration are increasing pressure on the country's social welfare system and necessitate structural reforms. The moder |
| 2011 | The German economy - the fifth largest economy in the world in PPP terms and Europe's largest - is a leading exporter of machinery, vehicles, chemicals, and household equipment and benefits from a highly skilled labor force. Like its western European neighbors, Germany faces significant demographic challenges to sustained long-term growth. Low fertility rates and declining net immigration are increasing pressure on the country's social welfare system and necessitate structural reforms. The moder |
| 2012 | The German economy - the fifth largest economy in the world in PPP terms and Europe's largest - is a leading exporter of machinery, vehicles, chemicals, and household equipment and benefits from a highly skilled labor force. Like its Western European neighbors, Germany faces significant demographic challenges to sustained long-term growth. Low fertility rates and declining net immigration are increasing pressure on the country's social welfare system and necessitate structural reforms. Reforms l |
| 2013 | The German economy - the fifth largest economy in the world in PPP terms and Europe's largest - is a leading exporter of machinery, vehicles, chemicals, and household equipment and benefits from a highly skilled labor force. Like its Western European neighbors, Germany faces significant demographic challenges to sustained long-term growth. Low fertility rates and declining net immigration are increasing pressure on the country's social welfare system and necessitate structural reforms. Reforms l |
| 2014 | The German economy - the fifth largest economy in the world in PPP terms and Europe's largest - is a leading exporter of machinery, vehicles, chemicals, and household equipment and benefits from a highly skilled labor force. Like its Western European neighbors, Germany faces significant demographic challenges to sustained long-term growth. Low fertility rates and declining net immigration are increasing pressure on the country's social welfare system and necessitate structural reforms. Reforms l |
| 2015 | The German economy - the fifth largest economy in the world in PPP terms and Europe's largest - is a leading exporter of machinery, vehicles, chemicals, and household equipment and benefits from a highly skilled labor force. Like its Western European neighbors, Germany faces significant demographic challenges to sustained long-term growth. Low fertility rates and declining net immigration are increasing pressure on the country's social welfare system and necessitate structural reforms. Reforms l |
| 2016 | The German economy - the fifth largest economy in the world in PPP terms and Europe's largest - is a leading exporter of machinery, vehicles, chemicals, and household equipment and benefits from a highly skilled labor force. Like its Western European neighbors, Germany faces significant demographic challenges to sustained long-term growth. Low fertility rates and a large increase in net immigration are increasing pressure on the country's social welfare system and necessitate structural reforms. |
| 2017 | The German economy - the fifth largest economy in the world in PPP terms and Europe's largest - is a leading exporter of machinery, vehicles, chemicals, and household equipment and benefits from a highly skilled labor force. Like its Western European neighbors, Germany faces significant demographic challenges to sustained long-term growth. Low fertility rates and a large increase in net immigration are increasing pressure on the country's social welfare system and necessitate structural reforms. |
| 2018 | The German economy - the fifth largest economy in the world in PPP terms and Europe's largest - is a leading exporter of machinery, vehicles, chemicals, and household equipment. Germany benefits from a highly skilled labor force, but, like its Western European neighbors, faces significant demographic challenges to sustained long-term growth. Low fertility rates and a large increase in net immigration are increasing pressure on the country's social welfare system and necessitate structural reform |
| 2019 | The German economy - the fifth largest economy in the world in PPP terms and Europe's largest - is a leading exporter of machinery, vehicles, chemicals, and household equipment. Germany benefits from a highly skilled labor force, but, like its Western European neighbors, faces significant demographic challenges to sustained long-term growth. Low fertility rates and a large increase in net immigration are increasing pressure on the country's social welfare system and necessitate structural reform |
| 2020 | The German economy - the fifth largest economy in the world in PPP terms and Europe's largest - is a leading exporter of machinery, vehicles, chemicals, and household equipment. Germany benefits from a highly skilled labor force, but, like its Western European neighbors, faces significant demographic challenges to sustained long-term growth. Low fertility rates and a large increase in net immigration are increasing pressure on the country's social welfare system and necessitate structural reform |
| 2021 | The German economy - the fifth largest economy in the world in PPP terms and Europe's largest - is a leading exporter of machinery, vehicles, chemicals, and household equipment. Germany benefits from a highly skilled labor force, but, like its Western European neighbors, faces significant demographic challenges to sustained long-term growth. Low fertility rates and a large increase in net immigration are increasing pressure on the country's social welfare system and necessitate structural reform |
| 2022 | The German economy - the fifth largest economy in the world in PPP terms and Europe's largest - is a leading exporter of machinery, vehicles, chemicals, and household equipment. Germany benefits from a highly skilled labor force, but, like its Western European neighbors, faces significant demographic challenges to sustained long-term growth. Low fertility rates and a large increase in net immigration are increasing pressure on the country's social welfare system and necessitate structural reform |
| 2023 | leading EU service-based export-driven economy; highly skilled and educated labor force; fairly fiscally conservative; energy-related economic disruptions due to Russian gas cessations; increased defense spending and rising debts |
| 2024 | leading diversified, export-driven, core EU and eurozone economy; key automotive, chemical, engineering, finance, and green energy industries; growth stalled by energy crisis; tight labor market with falling working-age population; fiscal rebalancing with phaseout of energy price supports |
| 2025 | leading export-driven, core EU and eurozone economy; key automotive, chemical, engineering, finance, and green energy industries; growth stalled by energy crisis and declining exports; tight labor market with falling working-age population; fiscal rebalancing with phaseout of energy price supports |