Germany lands into recession

Berlin: Germany has fallen into recession after high prices took a bigger toll on the country’s economy than originally anticipated, official data revealed on Thursday.The data by Germany’s federal statistical office showed gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 0.3 per cent in the first quarter compared with the previous three months, which also recorded a contraction, reports the Guardian.

The revised numbers confirm that the German economy shrank for two straight quarters -- the technical definition of a recession -- following a 0.5 per cent drop in the three months to December 2022. Initial estimates released in April had suggested that Germany had narrowly avoided a recession, merely stagnating with 0 per cent growth. “It took a couple of statistical revisions, but at the end of the day, the German economy actually did this winter what we had feared already since last summer: it fell into a technical recession,” said Carsten Brzeski, global head of macro at the Dutch bank ING.