The German economy expanded marginally between January and March, official figures published Tuesday showed, dodging a recession after a weak end to 2023. Output rose by 0.2 percent in the first quarter of 2024 in comparison with the previous three months, federal statistics agency Destatis said in preliminary figures. Europe’s largest economy shrank 0.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023, Destatis said.
The revised figure was worse than its previous estimate that GDP fell by 0.3 percent in the quarter. The statistics agency however revised its estimates for the whole of 2023 up, suggesting the German economy contracted only 0.2 percent over the year instead of 0.3 percent.—AFP