Germany's GDP soars 1.9% in 2022: Destatis

On the demand side, it was mostly household final consumption expenditure which accounted for the growth of the German economy in 2022. It rose by a price adjusted 4.6 per cent on the previous year and thus almost reached the pre-crisis level of 2019, as per Destatis.

The 1.1 per cent increase of government final consumption expenditure in 2022 was relatively moderate after two years that had been heavily impacted by the pandemic. General government spent markedly more to feed and accommodate all the people from Ukraine and other countries seeking protection.

Foreign trade increased in 2022 on a year earlier despite high price increases. German exports of goods were up a price adjusted 3.2 per cent on 2021. Imports increased much more over the same period, by a price adjusted 6.7 per cent. Thus, the balance of exports and imports had a downward effect on GDP growth.

In 2022, the economic performance was achieved by an average of 45.6 million persons in employment whose place of employment was in Germany. This was an increase of 1.3 per cent, or 589,000 persons, on a year earlier—more than ever before in Germany. The number of persons in employment in manufacturing rose only slightly in 2022 and could not offset the employment losses of the two preceding years.

General government budgets recorded a financial deficit (net borrowing) of €101.6 billion at the end of 2022, according to provisional calculations. This was a decrease of just under €33 billion compared with 2021 (€134.3 billion).

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DP)