Germany's economy has lost strength for the second consecutive year as frightened consumers spent less in 2024, and competition from China has interfered in the export business of cars and industrial machinery, which is traditionally lucrative for German businessmen.
Germany's gross domestic product shrank by 0,2 percent last year, a preliminary official figure released a few weeks before parliamentary elections in which economic issues are a top priority for voters.
The reduction in growth in 2023 was 0,3 percent.
Germany's economy is now only 0,3 percent stronger than it was in 2019, before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Due to its poor results in 2024, Germany has the worst economic performance among major European economies.
Berlin's economic problems began four years ago, when Germany was unable to adapt to major changes in the global economy.
The German business world is facing external shocks and domestic problems, and the public debate about improving the economic climate has become heated.
The three-member coalition government of German Chancellor, Social Democrat Olaf Scholz, has collapsed after he fired his finance minister over a dispute over ways to revitalize the economy.
Elections, as a result of that split, are scheduled for February 23rd.
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