DAILY TRUST
Germany fell into a recession around the turn of the year, official figures published Thursday showed, as inflation and higher interest rates curbed demand in Europe’s largest economy.
Over the first three months of 2023, the economy shrank by 0.3 per cent, the federal statistics agency Destatis said, downgrading an initial estimate of zero per cent.
Following a 0.5-per cent contraction in the last three months of 2022, it was Germany’s second consecutive quarter of negative growth – the threshold for a “technical recession”.
The slump came as Germany battled a surge in energy prices in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has weighed on households and businesses.
The increased cost of energy has driven inflation, which sat at 7.2 per cent in Germany in April, down only slightly from its peak towards the end of 2022.
“The persistence of high price increases continued to be a burden on the German economy at the start of the year,” Destatis said in a statement.
