span>span>Wednesday 25th May /span>span>2022/span>span> - 08:33 (BST)/span>/span>
Figures released by the Statistisches Bundesmant Deutschland have indicated that the German economy grew by 0.2% over the first quarter of 2022, despite the early impact of conflict in Ukraine. Year-on-year, the country managed to increase output by 3.8% which was slightly better than the 3.7% growth expected and highlights further post-pandemic resilience.
While household and government spending remained mostly at the same level as in the previous quarter and exports were down at the start of the year, investments elsewhere helped boost economic productivity.
The first quarter growth also meant Europe’s largest economy avoided a recession, defined as two quarters in a row of contraction, after gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 0.3% at the end of 2021.
Conversely, consumer sentiment within Germany remained at near all-time lows for June, edging up slightly to -26 from -26.6 during May. Inflationary pressure, along with Russia’s sustained attack on Ukraine, continued to weigh heavily on households sentiment. Whilst supply chain issues and a lack of semiconductors also hobbled recovery in large parts of the German economy.
